AMMAN — In
light of the upcoming return to school next month, the student advocacy group,
Thabahtona, stated in a recent press release that the government had not
succeeded in providing a framework for students to return to schools safely.
اضافة اعلان
The ministry
previously released their “The Safe Return to
School Guide for the 2021/2022
school year.” However, the group took issue with some points in the guide.
Specifically,
Thabahtona noted that the government has decreased the amount of space between
students in the classroom, from 2sq.m in the previous protocol, to 1sq.m this
year, as long as the number of pupils in each classroom does not exceed 25
students.
The
statement added that this reduction has aided private schools’ return to
full-fledged face-to-face education, while hindering public schools, which
typically have more students per class.
“Each
classroom in a public school will have 25 students and these schools have large
classrooms that usually accommodate more than 40 students. As a result of the
transfer of large numbers of private school students, the number of students in
one class can reach 65, but now they will only accept 25 students,” said Fakher
Daas, general coordinator of Thabahtona, in an interview with
Jordan News.
Daas added
that because of the enormous number of students in public schools, those
students will be forced to attend in-class education on a rotational basis,
which means that the student in public schools will attend part-time and
students in private schools will attend fully.
“As a
result, there is discrimination based on class and inequality among students,”
Daas said.
“The Safe
Return to School Guide for the 2021/2022 school year aims to provide a safe and
healthy environment for students, and it includes preventive measures, and the
guide was prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Health to ensure the
achievement of a safe and healthy educational and learning environment in all
educational institutions, ensuring the safety of our students and educational
staff,” Ahmad Masaafeh, the Ministry of Education spokesperson and director of
public education, told
Jordan News.
“The process
of transferring students between private to public schools is continuing, and
the Ministry of Education has plans on how to deal with the number of enrolled
students in public schools,” Masaafeh said.
Moreover,
the spokesperson added that the number of students transferring from private to
public schools poses a challenge, but there are also students who transfer from
public schools to private ones. “We hope that this academic year will be a
face-to-face education (experience). Furthermore, our schools are the pinnacle
of commitment to all preventive measures,” he added.
A teacher at
a public school told
Jordan News that it is safe for students to return
to face-to-face education, provided that a student who has come in contact with
someone infected with COVID-19 does not attend school. She also said that the
guide is fair and suitable for public schools.
Some parents
agreed. "I believe in the measures taken in The Safe Return to School
Guide, as it applies the conditions of social distancing in public schools,”
said Haya Yaser, a mother of three students who attend public schools.
She added
that these measures will help students return safely to school. “Students have
to return to their schools because online education was ineffective,” Yaser
said.
On the other
hand, many parents told
Jordan News that they are not aware of the new instructions,
and they expressed an obvious concern towards the new school year. “We will
wait until the face-to-face education starts to see what will happen,” a parent
said.
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