QRTA refutes ‘false, non-objective’ claims on social media platforms

AMMAN — The Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA) on Tuesday issued a statement refuting “false and non-objective” reports that were circulated on social media. 

The academy said that these claims are meant to link the academy to the teachers’ strike, affirming that it is a non-profit company established in 2009 in response to the Kingdom’s national need to train teachers in accordance with the best international practices, according to the statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

On its relation with the Ministry of Education, the academy affirmed that its role is “solely focused on training and rehabilitating teachers within a specific programme that has nothing to do with the ministry’s policies in the vocational field or otherwise”. 

The academy also said that it does not own any lands or real estate property, including the land on which its building is located, which is owned entirely by the University of Jordan, the statement said.

The academy refuted claims that it resorts to “favouritism” to employ its graduates at the Education Ministry, stating that only 10 per cent — 1,220 teachers out of a total of 12,500 teachers who have graduated from the academy since 2017 — work at the ministry.

If the ministry sends teachers to the academy of its own volition, it commits them to work for no less than three years in their schools, the statement said, noting that the academy provides a diploma programme in only five education majors out of the 20 majors that the ministry needs.

The academy also refuted claims that it collects JD3,000 from those enrolled in the diploma training programme and denied the report that it takes fees from students sent by the ministry through a scholarship under the condition that the enrolees do not violate the contractual conditions that bind them. 

The funding of the academy comes from donor entities, the statement said, adding that the government does not carry any financial burdens to fund the training programmes.