Higher education flunks a national test

Al-Fanar Media 27 February 2015

More than half of Jordanian universities failed a recent national proficiency exam held by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, writes Saba Abu Farha for Al-Fanar Media.

The exam is administered to students but the government then evaluates the universities by how well their students did. This is the first year where all students expecting to graduate from Jordanian universities have been required to take the exam. The exam seeks to measure students’ competence in the disciplines necessary for their academic goals and evaluates what public and private universities have achieved in their work with the students.

The exam provided a strong dose of bad news for Jordanian educators. “The overall results were weak, shocking and less than our ambition,” said Bashir Al-Zoubi, director of the Higher Education Accreditation Commission in a press conference, who also hinted that the results show frustrations linked to social problems in the country.
Full report on the Al-Fanar site

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