AMMAN — In line with her belief in the importance of improving the quality of teachers’ training, Her Majesty Queen Rania on Tuesday dropped in on one of the short training courses at the Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA).
Held by the academy for the third consecutive year, the courses are provided to teachers during schools’ summer and winter vacations, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s office. Teachers who want to participate in the training sign up voluntarily, unlike QRTA’s regular courses where trainees are selected by the Ministry of Education.
Queen Rania attended part of a session on “performance evaluation” which mostly included teachers from public schools and a few educators from private schools.
She listened to trainees talk about the course and explain the skill sets they were hoping to acquire or improve through their attendance, the statement said.
Her Majesty praised teachers for their enthusiasm and determination in making use of their holiday to develop their teaching skills, adding that this makes them role models among their colleagues and peers.
She added that such courses are crucial to enhancing the quality of education in Jordan, and the fact that teachers sign up voluntarily to attend them is evidence that they are keen on providing their students with the best education possible.
During the session, which was also attended by QRTA Director Haif Banayan, Queen Rania stressed the fact that QRTA is constantly looking for ways to reach and benefit the largest number of teachers across Jordan.
Her Majesty had the chance to ask the attendees whether they thought current school curricula enabled them to apply the new strategies and skills they were learning.
The teachers answered that, regretfully, the current curricula doesn’t help them as it is both outdated and tends to focus more on the quantity of information being taught rather than its quality.
The academy is training 400 teachers this month, the statement said
Queen Rania launched QRTA in June 2009, in partnership with Columbia University, as a centre of excellence in teachers’ education in Jordan and the region.
