Wednesday, 22 February 2012 08:37
Labor Watch / J.T. - As classes resumed in public schools across Jordan on Tuesday after nearly three weeks, parents, students and teachers expressed concern over how pupils would make up the lessons they missed.
Students returned to school yesterday after the government and teachers sealed an agreement that ended educators' nationwide strike.
Under the deal, the government will pay teachers an additional 15 per cent of their basic salary as of April 1, upping their professional allowance this year to 85 per cent, while the remaining 15 per cent will be disbursed next year to fulfil their demands for a 100 per cent allowance.
The government also agreed to unify the allowance at 100 per cent as of next year for all ranks and categories of educators, administrative staff and technicians.
Although happy to see teachers back in their schools, students and parents were split on the best way to compensate for the missed classes, amid calls from the education ministry to hold intensive classes, whether after school or on Saturdays, to make them up.
Maha Jabasini, a Tawjihi student, said she was glad that teachers had decided to come back to school, but expressed fear that teachers would "skim quickly through the material to finish on time".
"I also cannot go to school on Saturdays because I have already set a schedule for studying. Having only one day off a week will not be enough to catch up on our studies," Jabasini, a student at a secondary school in Amman, told The Jordan Times.
Jihad Jarmi, a father of three students, voiced similar concerns, calling on the education ministry to monitor schools and make sure that the material is not taught "superficially" to make up for the missed classes.
To this end, spokesperson of the Jordan Teachers Committee Sultan Batayneh appealed to the ministry yesterday to extend the spring semester three weeks instead of giving intensive courses to compensate for the missed classes.
"It is in the interests of students not to pressure them with extra classes and extending the current term would be the ideal solution," he said.
However, Daoud Shqeirat, president of the Irbid branch of the Jordan Teachers Committee, underlined teachers' commitment to exert all their efforts to make up the past weeks' lessons.
"Now educators will go back to their schools full of energy and enthusiasm to give back to their country... students and their parents should not worry in any way," said Shqeirat, who is also a school director.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh urged teachers on Twitter to "unleash" their full potential and "revive the bright image of education in Jordan".
According to a statement from the Prime Ministry, the premier also tweeted that it is a right for students to sit at their desks and a gain for the country to have teachers stand in their classrooms.
During yesterday's Lower House session, Khasawneh thanked deputies for their "huge" efforts to end the strike.
For their part, the MPs expressed their appreciation for the government's "flexibility" and "patience" in dealing with the crisis, despite the pressures the budget is facing.
Rania Armouti, a primary teacher, said "teachers' firm stand to gain their rights and their return to school is a success story that students will remember forever".
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