Transforming education: the power of ICT policies - Commonwealth ...

The Ministry of Education has developed a new, more comprehensive National Education Strategy, which goes beyond
ERfKE. The new Strategy builds on and fi ne-tunes educational initiatives that are already taking place. The purpose
of the strategy is to give overall direction to the operations of the Ministry of Education for the next fi ve to ten years
while implementing annual reform activities and to communicate to the general public how the stated goals will be
achieved. The Strategy fi ts within the context of the philosophy, objectives and policies stated in Jordan’s Education
Act of 1994 and is the culmination of a period of intense debate on the importance of human resource development
to the future of Jordan and a growing consensus on the nature of a nationally integrated social and economic reform
programme, a key component of which is education.
The Education Strategy broadens the scope of ERfKE by formulating strategies for aspects of the educational system
that did not receive suffi cient attention under ERfKE. Hence, the chapter on the Learner lays emphasis on universal
access, opportunity and equity, regardless of gender, ethnicity or economic status; while that on Curriculum and
Assessment places stress on the employability of school-leavers and points out the importance of revising the
education system in order to fi t the current and projected needs of the labour market.
An analysis of the sector policy allows some major elements to be pinpointed as critical to the success of the reform
programme:
Long-term commitment
In the recently released National Reform Agenda for the coming ten years, education remains one of eight top
priorities for the country.
High level of ownership
The ownership of educational activity and reform has been demonstrated through participation and national
reporting.
Suffi cient capacity
The GOJ has developed suffi cient capacity from the continuous efforts in education reform in the past 15 years and
is ready to address the major challenges associated with a long-term qualitative reform. (The building of policy
frameworks in such key areas as curriculum, assessment, and training is the right pathway for achieving deep and
sustainable change in these areas).
Transparency on educational results
Jordan participates in major international assessments of student learning and the use of ICT in education and has
demonstrated a willingness to develop a culture of planning based upon analysis of various components of system
performance.
Private-public ICT joint venture
The growth of the Jordan Education Initiative as a test-bed for public-private partnerships to support development
and implementation of e-learning materials, is a signifi cant development. In addition, there are a number of
technological developments and economic development imperatives that require systemic changes within the
educational system such as the introduction of a high-speed broadband learning network.
Different monitoring and evaluation reports conducted by the Ministry as well as by external agencies including
donors such as the World Bank, clearly showed that these policy features were critical to the successful educational
reform programme in Jordan. Results achieved so far through the successive education reform programmes in
Jordan were evident, whether in improving the quality of education as measured by improvements on international
assessments or in improving access to education, gender parity, and quality school environments.
Case Study: Jordan | 105