Tawjihi certificate’s scrapping of ‘fail’ qualification draws mixed reactions

AMMAN — The National Campaign for Defending Students’ Rights (Thabahtoona) claimed in a statement issued on Sunday that the removal  of the word “Fail” from Tawjihi will “destroy education” as the certificate will become “worthless”.

Thabahtoona Coordinator Fakher Daas said that the new regulations for the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination scrapping the “failure/success” classification means that both qualified and unqualified students will receive certificates and even obtain a university degree.

Daas, who called the new regulations a “huge mess” told The Jordan Times that university admission  will be affected as students who failed in major subjects like Arabic, English or Physics will be eligible to enter university inside or outside Jordan, just because they hold a certificate.

He questioned the Ministry of Higher Education’s stance towards the issue and asked if there will be new criteria for university admission. 

“There is no [educational] system in the world that cancels the criteria of success and failure,” Daas claimed.

The latest regulations published in the Official Gazette described the results of the exam with phrases such as “disqualified due to insufficient school grades” for regular students who fail at school in courses they register at a certain session.

Phrases also include “disqualified due to absence” if a student was registered absent in all school courses he or she was meant to sit in for a session, “disqualified for violating exam regulations” if a student was banned from sitting for at least one session.

The regulations also insert the phrase “Tawjihi absent” if a student was absent in all courses he or she registered for at the general exam.

However, Teachers Association’s President Ibrahim Shabaneh said that providing all students with Tawjihi certificates will ensure a higher social security system as it will allow all students to start their academic or working life from the age of 18

“The student will not have to wait [until passing all subjects of Tawjihi], but will choose his path whether in university, occupational training centre or community college rather than falling to the easy enemy of depression or drugs because he failed to pass all subjects,” Shabaneh told The Jordan Times.

The Association’s president noted that the new regulations respect all students with different capabilities.

The regular students’ grades will be calculated out of 1,400 as of the current academic year for university admission purposes.

The regulations also allowed new regular students and irregular students to sit for the exam with an open number of sessions without losing their right to sit for the exam, as of the 2017/2018 scholastic year.

Despite several attempts to reach officials at the Ministry of Education to enquire about the new regulations, no answer was provided to The Jordan Times.