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AMMAN — Forty per cent of secondary school principals in Jordan reported that “infrastructure issues in the centres are significantly hampering education”, according to the General Education Monitoring (GEM) report on Accountability in Education issued by UNESCO on Tuesday.
The study, conducted by an independent agency, reported that the schools of the Kingdom are “failing to provide a well-maintained and safe physical environment that fosters the student’s ability to learn”, highlighting the need for “safe and well-resourced schools in order for teachers to instruct effectively and for students to be receptive”.
“Facilities in good conditions, including low noise levels, cleanliness, access to clean air and water, and absence of overcrowding are not only conductive to learning, but essential for students and staff’s overall health and well being,” the report said.
The findings of the study were seconded by Deputy Director of the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) Ibrahim Shibaneh, who told The Jordan Times that “the majority of public schools in Jordan lack the basic infrastructure for a proper education environment”.
The results were also supported by Ghada Khalil, a teacher of Arabic at a public school in Jabal Al Taj.
“The lack of decent infrastructure at schools greatly affects the performance of students and how teachers feel,” she said, adding that “this is a top issue that needs to be addressed”.
Sixty-one per cent of the schools attended by underprivileged students denounced shortages or poor quality of physical infrastructure, according to the report, while 36 per cent of the rest of the surveyed schools reported the same issue.
“Many schools are in need of maintenance, toilets in some schools are a mess and there are no halls or playing areas for students that are in line with high standards to ensure safety in public schools,” Shibaneh stated.
The report further pointed out “huge discrepancies” between rural and urban areas in the access to important learning materials such as computers.
“Many schools do not have science labs or computer labs, and even the ones that have computer labs have a very limited number of PCs,” Shibaneh noted.
The study also stated that students with disabilities are “still facing ongoing discrimination”, with most schools in Jordan not being prepared to implement inclusive programmes despite the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008.
The report nonetheless showed that Jordan is part of the 55 per cent of the countries that have made the right to education accountable, giving the citizens the right to take the government to court in the event of a violation of this right.
The report highlighted Jordan’s progress in the achievement of the 4th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which calls nations to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote life-long learning opportunities for all.
The Ministry of Education was unable to comment on the report, despite several attempts by The Jordan Times.
