Students voice frustration over ‘unfair’ Tawjihi system

AMMAN — The announcement of the results of this summer’s General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi) last Thursday stirred debate among students, who have voiced their disagreement with the current system. 

Tawjihi’s overall pass rate — which stood at 54,9 per cent this year —  is a “scary” figure for Omar Al Khawaja, a 17-year-old student who will take the exam during the next session.

“Barely half of the people passed it, and, still, it decides your whole life,” the student said in a recent interview with The Jordan Times, adding that the Tawjihi makes him feel “sad, depressed and under pressure”.

“I just hate that a piece of paper is going to be life-changing for me,” the student said, adding that he would prefer taking an exam for each university application rather than going through the Tawjihi.

The fact that a single year is the “sole decider” of a student’s fate in higher education is also a problem for Waleel Wa’el, who aims to become a doctor. 

“It’s just not fair,” the student said, noting that “over 11 years of hardwork and efforts are being put at stake with one single test”.

Education Minister Omar Razzaz addressed the issue at a press conference last Thursday, where he stated that “it’s time to take off the ropes of fear in the education system”. 

The minister called on all students who did not pass the test in the summer session to maintain hope, highlighting the ministry’s new measures to ease the tension generated by the Tawjihi.

A new Tawjihi plan was announced in April this year, introducing changes in the grading system and the cancellation of the fail/pass classification. 

Student Khaled Makhamreh stated that “the new system might be better, but it is still not fair enough”.

The student, who is preparing for the exam with the hope of starting a degree in biotechnology, said he finds “peace of mind” in the fact that he “will not fail” the Tawjihi with the new plan. 

However, he pointed out that the overall Tawjihi score is still going to be affected by the results the students get in subjects that they will “not need at all” later on in their higher education, adding that the system would be better if the students only had to perform on the basis of the materials required by the degree they are aiming to enter. 

“This way, students would not be forced to change their plans due to low marks in subjects that are far from related to the specialty they are planning to study at university,” Makhamreh added.

In previous remarks earlier this year, Razzaz vowed that the Tawjihi would witness a “quantum leap” in the coming few years, taking into account students’ individual abilities and preferences, but no further announcements have been made on this matter.