Blog

The education reform for the "knowledge economy Program" launched in 2003 and the "drivers for change initiative" launched this year aim to help Jordan compete and rise up to an increasingly competitive, technically demanding and educated world.

India, an increasingly respected international power with a booming economy has managed to translate its greatest liability , its large population, into one of its greatest assets through education. At its independence, its prime minister at the time initiated the original "5 IT?s" of which the Indian institute of technology is one of the most respected in the world, producing a highly educated work force that is sought after by the worlds top economies. The "Global Indian" is highly educated, highly competitive with high work ethics that is fluent in the language of the world, English.

Such an Indian is in high demand, he or she transcends cultures with analytical abilities, good at solving problem, meet ing deadline, adaptable with a global mind set. He or she has succeeded through such a quality driven educational system because of their abilities, hard work and hunger for knowledge. Many of these Indians have created much of the IT wealth in the USA and have became self made millionaires and returned to India with their wealth and knowledge to help India become the tiger economy that it is today.

Such passion for education and hard work is a necessary ingredient for Jordan if we want to emulate such success. It is alarming to see that the culture of education and knowledge is so devalued and ridiculed in our society. The reasons behind this are simple, good education pays poorly in Jordan.

Ability and knowledge are no recipes for success in today?s Jordan, f amily and social background, nepotism, cronyism, patronage and heavy dose of sycophancy are more essential ingredients to success in Jordan than any level of education.

The need for educational reform is being addressed by many respected initiatives like "Madrasatee", the "Jordan education initiative" and the "teacher training academy". Without belittling the valuable work that is being done, Jordan remains a deeply segregated society when it comes to the quality of education that we offer to our children. Such segregation is along lines of economical well being and only a handful of expensive private schools n Jordan can offer the level of education that is an essential requirement for the future of Jordan. We can not afford not to educate all our young people to a high level of performance so that they have the options and choices of what to do with their adult life and help Jordan to follow the Indian example.

It is not scare mongering to categorize the inequalities of our education system as an "educational apartheid" a segregating between those who have and those who have not's, it is a loss for all of us that our brightest are not achieving their potential.

Poor educational standards are our most pressing national issue. Rich countries appreciate the need to educate their brightest and extend such basic right through charter schools and school academies that is held to standards written in their charter. Such a decentralized system offers incentives for teachers and educational experts to work away from the constraints of big government that can quite often be an obstacle.

Good teachers are second to family in a child?s life, they should be rewarded according to performance and financial incentives are only possible with the degree of independence and autonomy that such charter schools can offer. A system that links reward to contributions and listens to teachers who know how things do work and how they should work has proven its merit in many countries and by offering school vouchers to children from poor background, no child should be missed.

Redirecting our limited resources to education is essential in a poor country like Jordan. Their should be an open debate of where such funds should be redirected from, their should be no taboos or holly institutions.

Numerous private and poorly performing public universities contribute to the culture of mediocrity that prevails in our educational institutions. Our limited higher education budget should be targeted to a hand full o f institutions that provide quality. We should aim for quality not quantity. University academics and educators should be appointed for their abilities and scrutinized to maintain the high standard that is needed for world class universities. Vocational training is a viable option that could be offered by other institutions that do not qualify for university status. We need to accept that university education is not for all and to educate our school leavers about the viable options which they could follow to help our economy and build a successful future for themselves and their families.

While there is no panacea for our educational ills, the quickest and cheapest way to improve matters is to address the lack of meritocracy in our system and that everyone should feel a "stake holder" in our society.We need to send a message that "education and hard work pays". A message reinforced by visible action that we will be more metocratic, have less nepotism, less dependence on sycophancy and less patronage. Such a message will galvanize and unearth the huge talents of the already educated workforce in and outside Jordan who will feel that they can contribute in a game of "fair play", and even a more clear message to our children that through hard work and educatio n individuals flourish. Only then a drive for change will succeed Betraying such basic principles will make any education initiative futile and worthless and will help to subsidize rich economies by encouraging the brain drain.

Being patriotic is not about yeaning for our formal heritage, nostalgia for the past or a celebration of what Jordan is today, it is a vision of what our country could be. It is about being less hubris and having greater ability to be self critical and self aware of the limits of ou r ability, our power and our wisdom considering our weakness economically and geopolitically. All we need is the political will to address our shortcomings. We need to be less heavy on politics and heavier on policies. Without education we have little, it is our only future.

Dr Ibraheem Hijazi
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dr Ibraheem Hijazi is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in both Jordan and the UK (Imperial College School of Medicine).