Jordanian students in Sudan protest decision not to accredit their certificates

AMMAN — Jordanian students in Sudan on Tuesday started an open-ended strike outside the Kingdom’s embassy in Khartoum, demanding a review of a decision not to accredit secondary school certificates issued in the African country.

More than 700 Jordanians have flown to Sudan to complete the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi), believing that the exams are easier abroad.

Earlier this week, Sudanese authorities detained a number of Jordanian students over claims that the secondary school national exam test papers were leaked and obtained by some Jordanian students.

The incident prompted the Education Ministry to announce that secondary school certificates from Sudan will not be officially accredited in Jordan. 

“This decision will harm us tremendously because it will be applied retroactively. Before coming to Sudan I headed to the ministry to ask them if the secondary school certificates in Sudan are accredited and they told me they were,” Abdullah Sarayreh told The Jordan Times over the phone on Tuesday while protesting outside the embassy in Khartoum. 

After failing some of the Tawjihi courses six times, Sarayreh decided to travel to Sudan to obtain his certificate there. 

“It was impossible for me to pass the Tawjihi. I cooperated with a mediator from the Sudanese embassy to facilitate the process,” said Sarayreh, who has been in Sudan since last October. 

The “difficult” curricula in Sudan has prompted the majority of Jordanians to switch to the Libyan system, which according to Sarayreh, comes in multiple-choice format. 

“The paper leak incident involved one Jordanian student enrolled in the Sudanese system,” he said, noting that it is “not safe for Jordanian students now in Sudan”.

His father, Ahmad Sarayreh, was among parents who protested outside Parliament on Tuesday to demand revoking the Education Ministry’s decision. 

“The ministry was clear when it told us that secondary school certificates issued in Sudan were accredited, provided that the students reside in the country for at least eight months,” he told The Jordan Times. 

Meanwhile, MPs Mustafa Rawashdeh and Nayef Leimoun headed to Sudan on Tuesday evening to “closely follow up on the issue”.

“We will understand the situation better there,” said Rawashdeh, noting that he was not aware of the number of Jordanian students detained in connection with the exam leak.