Primary students, parents protest new curricula during sit-in

AMMAN — Primary school students from across the Kingdom and their parents on Saturday staged a sit-in near the Education Ministry, protesting against the mathematics and science curricula for the first and fourth grades.

The sit-in, which also saw the participation of teachers, aimed at expressing students' and parents' frustration over the new curricula, which the ministry introduced at the beginning of the academic year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Parents said that the level of these curricula “exceed the comprehension and cognitive abilities of the students” and “does not consider their development”, adding that the textbooks do not start from pre-school education.

Head of the National Centre for Curriculum Development's Higher Council Azmi Mahafzah has said that recent changes to the mathematics and science curricula for the first and fourth grades were the outcomes of meetings with experts and research into “advanced international practices in the field”, Petra said.