HEC adopts virtual 2nd semester for universities

AMMAN — The Higher Education Council (HEC) on Thursday decided to adopt remote education in the second academic semester with new arrangements, except for practical and applied courses that are identified by universities' boards of trustees and students of clinical stages of medical specialisations.  

The decision stipulates that remote education be interactive according to regulatory bases clarifying the rights and duties of faculty members, students and universities in terms of providing the infrastructure, computers for faculty members and Internet packages for students, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

As for mid-term and final exams and ways to sit for them, suitable decisions will be made later according to the epidemiological situation in the Kingdom, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Mohammad Khair Abu Qudais told Petra.

Abu Qudais said that the two-year executive plan to integrate e-education in the higher education system now includes all aspects in terms of the shape of the education, teaching methods and the required education through amending relevant laws at the Higher Education Accreditation Commission.

As for challenges that faced the e-education in the past, the minister noted that if it is applied in the right way, its efficiency will reach that of the on-campus education through realising the envisioned interaction between students and faculty members.

He pointed out that the aim of the integration plan is taking students from the education stage to the learning stage through their interaction with their instructors.

Regarding the adoption of new specialisations and amending syllabuses, Abu Qudais said that HEC always considers existing specialisations in a way that meet labour market needs and alleviate unemployment rates that reached 26 per cent among university graduates.