Education has played a transformative role in the development of Jordan from an agrarian, subsistence economy to a predominantly urban, industrialized nation. With few natural resources at its disposal, Jordan has opted to develop its human capacity. To date Jordan's record of educational development has been impressive. Jordan’s population has a very high literacy rate of 89 percent.

Jordan invests 13 percent of public expenditure on basic and secondary education. The total enrollment rate for basic education is 90 percent and decreases to 70 percent for the secondary cycle. Male enrollment is nominally higher in early childhood and basic education. Female students, however, comprise 55 percent of the secondary education population.

The structure of the educational system in Jordan consists of a two-year cycle of pre-school education, ten years of compulsory basic education, and two years of secondary academic or vocational education after which the students sit for a General Certificate of Secondary Education Exam -- Tawjihi.

The Ministry of Education began reforming the educational sector in the early 1990s. This process was then accelerated when His Majesty King Abdullah II, in early 2001, called for the “remodeling” of the education system as a critical step for Jordan to realize its vision of becoming a regional information technology (IT) hub and fully enter into the global economy. The goal of the government’s system reform initiative is to create and administer an educational system based on excellence, dedicated to high standards and contributing to the nation's wealth in a global "Knowledge Economy." The reform targets all sectors of basic education, vocational training and non-formal education, as well as teachers, students, managers and educational institutions. Issues of structure of education, e-learning and computerization, examinations and evaluation, certification and training of teachers, curriculum and educational materials development, early childhood development, administration and organization, and financial administration are the main aspects of the reform process. Thus, anticipated results in the education sector include an improved curriculum, better trained teachers, and a standards and accreditation system that would ensure high quality, consistency, and competitive educational opportunities for Jordan’s children.

Challenges

With close to half of the population (43%) below the age of 15 years, the challenge for the 21st century is to ensure that Jordan’s youth receive the quality of education and relevant labor market skills needed to effectively compete for domestic, regional and international employment.

Currently, there is a mismatch between skills taught in schools and workplace needs, uneven teacher to student ratio, outdated teaching methodologies, and limited use of technology. Although Jordan has one of the highest female literacy rates in the region (82 percent), females are often directed into generalist streams. This situation deprives girls from taking part in learning that will serve them in the workforce. It also creates significant gaps in future employment and income as compared with their male peers. Further, although parents value education, economic hardship sometimes forces them to remove their daughters from the educational system at an early age – in many cases to care for younger siblings. This practice negatively impacts female participation rates and ensures a life of economic and social challenges for affected women.

Further, Jordan’s educational system provides only limited access to early childhood education (ECE), and the current system of pre-service and in-service training, necessary for improving and standardizing teaching methods and sector-specific expertise, does not fully meet the challenges of preparing students for the modern work place.

Response

In July 2003, the GOJ launched the Education Reform for the Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) initiative. This five-year, $380 million program, developed with USAID assistance, is one of the most ambitious education reform programs in the Middle East and North Africa region to date. The goal of Jordan’s education reform program is to re-orient education policy, restructure education programs and practices, improve physical learning environments, and promote learning readiness through improved and more accessible early childhood education. USAID, in coordination with the GOJ and eight other donor nations and multi-lateral organizations, will provide $14.2 million during this strategy period to support reform efforts through ERfKE.

USAID’s efforts under this initiative are two-fold. First, we are assisting with the government’s early child care initiative - working to create 100 public kindergartens, field-test curriculum, and develop and accreditation system in the next year. Second, USAID is working with the Ministry of Education on school-to-work programs and developing an IT curriculum stream for high school students.

Highlights

USAID/Jordan helped the Ministry of Education develop the Education Reform for a Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) initiative, and is now looking forward to continuing our partnership to successfully implement this Jordanian reform program.

[Note: All statistical data are from the Department of Statistics]