AMMAN — Minister of Education
Mohammad Abu Qaddis has said in media statements that 130,000 students left
private schools to enroll in 800 public schools around the
kingdom, raising
questions about the public schools’ capacity to host these numbers.
اضافة اعلان
Raba’a Alqaisi, a 41 years old
mother said that she did not think enrolling her fifth grade daughter in a
public school would be that difficult, but it turned out that all schools in
her area are full, she was told by the head teachers of these schools.
A head teacher of a public
school in Amman who prefers anonymity told Jordan News that “My school, and I
believe all public schools in the kingdom, do not have the ability to contain
even 20 more additional students, classrooms are very full and crowded.”
Describing the situation as “not
fair to both teachers and students,” the head teacher continued to add that she
had dozens of parents offering to buy their children’s desks and books only to
enroll them at a public school next semester, “but they don’t know that we
already have an average of 35 students in each classroom.”
“
Syrian refugee students enrolled
in public schools constituted an almost 15 percent addition to the already overcapacity
number of students in my school, we seriously cannot take any more students.”
Secretary General of Ministry of
Education Najwa Qbeilat told Jordan News that the government is familiar with
how crowded public schools are, and is in the process of proposing a couple of
strategies to solve the problem, with commitment to public health and safety
methods.
“Schools with higher numbers might
be divided into two shifts. The ministry might also rent a couple of new
buildings to support schools in each area. We have too many practical solutions
and we’re positive about the results.” she added.
Qbeilat said that the ministry is
fully aware that parents moved their children to public schools because they
believe that their children will get the same quality of education without
having to pay, but she believes that “half of them will move back to private
schools once classroom education begins this September, which will make it
easier.”
The head of the Private School
Association, Munther Sorani, told Jordan News that he cannot blame parents for
deciding to move their children to public schools, because the priorities are different
now due the pandemic.
"With these numbers moving
out of private schools, we now have a big number of private school teachers
with a limited number of students, which is illogical," he said. “I expect
significant losses for private schools."
Sorani confirmed that "the
government must be brave and take an urgent decision to get back to classroom
learning as soon as possible, to prevent more losses for private schools, and
to benefit teachers, parents, and students."
It is worth mentioning that the
Ministry of Education offered multiple security plans and compromises to
private schools through the Social Security Cooperation. Qbeilat said that
“private schools have been well compromised during the pandemic, considering
they’re an ailing sector. We are paying nearly half of their employees’
paychecks, which i believe is more than enough.”
Tamara
Mohammad, a mother for two children told Jordan News that "I decided to
move my children to public school and I can say that this the best decision I
have ever taken."
She added
that "their old private school wanted me to pay the fees right on time,
they even did not allow me to split the fees into two installments or wait for
couple of days."
“For now, I
cannot see a difference between public and private learning as my children are
getting online learning anyway, so both options seem to be the same. I still
cannot decide if I am moving my children to private schools or not once we get
back to classroom learning," the mother said.
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