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‘Constant upgrading of curricula vital for quality education’

By Dana Al Emam - Aug 27,2017 - Last updated at Aug 27,2017

AMMAN — Improving the quality of education entails continuous revamping of curricula and training of teachers, Adnan Badran, chairman of the National Centre for Developing Curricula’s higher council, said on Sunday.

While it is important to improve the quality of education at all stages, from kindergarten up to the university level, he said ages between three and 15 years are the most critical, since it is the stage in which an individual’s character “embraces either peace or hatred”.

The chairman added that Jordan can benefit from successful international experiences in revamping science and math curricula, but reorganising curricula of humanities requires more effort and wisdom, as these fields are “culture-sensitive”.

Speaking at an educational conference organised by the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum, Badran said educational curricula must support a value system that encourages critical thinking and respect of diversity.

However, the training of around 70,000 teachers working at some 3,800 schools across the country is an even bigger challenge, he added, noting that teachers play a central role in enabling change to happen.  

“It is no longer acceptable to allow hesitation or fear to hinder developing school curricula,” he said at the event, attended by a large number of educational experts and teachers, citing education, science and culture as key peace-building tools.

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Group, underlined education as a “tool for change and retaining cultural prosperity”, adding that the call for education for all without placing emphasis on the quality of such education is pointless.

He noted that the group is working with partners to expand its presence in all countries and to offer courses in the Arabic and English languages, as well as information technology by 2040. 

For her part, Randa Amayri, president of the conference, said the significance of the event lays in the fact that it looks into possibilities of providing equal educational opportunities to all children and youth in the country by showcasing successful examples from the region and the world.

She noted that the direct influence of education on graduates’ characters and economic productivity entails investing further in education in order to get better graduate quality.

 

The conference featured a number of scientific papers that addressed several aspects of education improvement.

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