Ministry, private school owners still at loggerheads over by-law

AMMAN — The by-law on the establishment and licensing of private education institutions continues to be a point of dispute between the Education Ministry and the Private School Owners Association. 

The by-law, which was approved by the Cabinet last December, includes provisions related to the physical environment at schools, the number of students and school yards.

Under the regulations, which went into effect this year, private schools are required to address any violation related to their buildings, including the need to vacate premises that are deemed residential and the need to have indoor yards.

Moreover, schools should calculate the number of students they are allowed to accept based on their area in square metres, making sure that each student has a one-square-metre area in the classroom and two square metres in the yard.

"First, the by-law was issued without our consultation as partners in the education process, and now they want to apply it retroactively. This would result in closing down 75 per cent of private schools and kindergartens across the Kingdom and letting go of more than 100,000 students and 12,000 teachers and other staff," the association's president, Munther Sourani, told The Jordan Times on Wednesday. 

He noted that authorities have allowed schools to operate for a long time without having indoor yards or forcing them to limit the number of students according to their size, noting that there are currently 600,000 private school students in Jordan. 

However, the Education Ministry announced its "shock" over the association's stance towards the by-law, saying that it will not be applied retroactively on schools licensed according to the old regulations. 

"Contrary to what the Private School Owners Association claims, private schools that do not violate the old regulations will not be in trouble," said the ministry in a statement sent to The Jordan Times.

The statement also added that the ministry has granted private education institutions two years to rectify their status, particularly when it comes to the physical environment and their capacity. 

"The old regulations ban schools from receiving more students than their capacity," said the ministry. 

Sourani charged that the ministry's private education department has stopped granting licences to schools since June last year, which resulted in having 250 private educational institutions, including kindergartens, without licences. 

But the ministry disputed such claims, saying that it approved the licensing of 45 privately run education institutions.

The ministry also highlighted violations detected by its field inspectors, with the main breaches being related to the number of students and classrooms, teaching international curricula without official approval, teaching materials that are not approved by the education council and having schools in industrial, residential and trade areas that lack safety requirements. 

The ministry accused Sourani of owning one of the violating private schools, while the association leader dismissed these claims.

"They are manipulating facts ...Their argument is weak," he charged. 

The ministry reiterated its calls on parents to make sure that the private schools they are sending their children to have been granted all the required licences by checking with its private education department.