‘Tawjihi security measures to become official regulations’

AMMAN — The Education Ministry plans to include the measures it applied to maintain order and security during the General Secondary Certificate Examination’s (Tawjihi) latest sessions in its regulations, an official said on Sunday.

“The step seeks to systemise the security measures, which resulted in a remarkable drop in violations, so that the exams maintain their value regardless of the people in office,” Education Ministry Spokesperson Walid Jallad told The Jordan Times.

Some 1,300 violations were registered during this winter session, which concluded Sunday, while the last summer session witnessed some 3,000 infringements, compared to 6,000 violations during the last winter session, according to ministry figures.

Jallad noted that the number of students sitting for the exam this session increased by around 20,000 compared to last year, as students who failed in certain subjects during the summer session redid the papers during the winter session. 

Moreover, others who passed the summer session exams are allowed to retake some papers to improve their scores to be able to change majors at university.

Students’ scores in the Tawjihi decide at which university they can study and what majors they can choose.

Jallad attributed the drop in violations to “tight security measures inside and outside examination halls”, as well as an increase in awareness among students and the community on the importance of commitment to regulations.

Moreover, breaches were met with “strict” penalties that varied in intensity according to the nature of the violation — from a warning, to suspension for one subject, one or two examination sessions, or for two or four years.

“Regular students who brought mobile phones to examination halls were penalised by a two-year suspension,” Jallad said.  

A total of 161,309 students registered for the winter session, which started on December 27, 2014 and took place in 1,500 examination halls, with 13,000 teachers monitoring the exams.

The corrections are going “well and as planned” as there are some 19,000 teachers involved in the process at 93 correction centres, Jallad said, noting that the there were 73 centres last year.

“Correction of the English and general culture papers is finished, while the process is still under way for mathematics, computer science, geography, geology, Islamic studies and commerce,” he said. 

According to the ministry’s figures, 60 people with visual disabilities and 93 weak-sighted students registered for the session, together with 167 deaf students, 117 people with physical disabilities and 61 students with cerebral palsy. 

Moreover, 46 inmates of correctional and rehabilitation centres registered for the exams.

During the winter session, the Jordan Teachers Association published several observatory reports on exams, violations and examination halls.

The reports included complaints on unregistered violations, cold examination halls and mistakes in photocopying some exam papers.