Educational Crisis Amidst COVID-19 in Jordan
“Direct education in Jordan is the base, and resorting to e-learning is an exception, to which the necessity has made the priority of preserving the health of students, teachers.”
By Haya Mohammed Abujledan
The pandemic has forced the world to take a step back and rethink. The outbreak has forced several countries of the world on a backfoot by enforcing a lockdown on almost everything, be it the markets , educational institutions, especially universities, schools, affecting more than 103 million students across the Middle East and North African region itself. Like many other countries, Jordan has stepped forward to take their education online & enforce appropriate measures to re-ensure the smooth running of their educational system.
“Jordan suffers from the burden of e-learning: the government and citizens”
The total shift of education on online platforms also has its positives not only on the student’s personality and skills but also in the way of interpretation. Research shows that visual aids have always improvised a child’s learning capacity through social communication, increasing their interaction with others and shaping these children into more independent individuals, not to mention teaching them life values like commitment and respect for order.
Moreover, the “e-learning” experiment imposed by the Jordanian government has raised concerns not only among the teachers, but also the students and parents due to the lack of basic communication services and affordability of the Internet and other electronic devices. This may lead the students to move from one stage of education to another without the appropriate educational qualifications & skills to tackle the next.
With the world economy at an all-time low, Jordan is suffering it’s impact too. There has been economic chaos due to the introduction of e-learning by the Government. The chaos arised due to the fact that the private sector of the country has incurred material losses because of the shift of many parents to public schools rather than private ones. They might feel a loss of advantage of making their children study in private schools which might create anxiety about job opportunities for teachers and administrators in this sector.
The government has provided the “DARSAK 1” and “DARSAK 2” platforms, which are made available to everyone on all platforms namely the Internet and Jordanian TV channels such that no child suffers a loss of education. Lessons would be delivered by teachers from the most qualified public and private schools, rendering an equal opportunity for all to learn.
A tender has been issued by the government to purchase more than 300,000 devices which would be distributed & supplied to the children in need, not only increasing the scope of education amongst the population but also providing a fair chance.
Haya is a genetics engineer and science teacher based out of Jordan!
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