Education ministry challenges WB claim of 52% 'learning poverty' in Jordan

AMMAN — The Ministry of Education on Sunday questioned a recent announcement by the World Bank (WB) that some 52 per cent of elementary students in Jordan suffer from “learning poverty”. The WB defined learning poverty based on the percentage of 10-year-olds who cannot read or understand a simple story.

Hafs Abu Mallouh, director of professional development policies at the ministry, said that the outcomes of the WB report are “inaccurate and based on old information”. Abu Mallouh referred to a national survey conducted by the ministry in 2017-2018, which showed that 60.5 per cent of the Kingdom's second and third graders had a comprehension level of 80 per cent, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.