Experts: The size of “Tawjihi” curriculum in public schools is not proportional with teaching duration

Al-Anbat - Shatha Hatamleh

Translated by: Mohammad Allahham

A number of educational experts confirmed the difference in the general secondary system "Tawjihi" between private and public schools, where private schools offer the curriculum in a smooth and simple way and a short sufficient period to teach it, unlike public schools that suffer from the large size of the curriculum compared to the number of classes scheduled for teaching it.

Educational expert Mahmoud Darwish said that private schools start teaching high school students "Tawjihi" one month earlier than public schools annually, in addition to that the number of classes allocated to general secondary students in private schools exceeds the number of classes in public schools, indicating that public school students do not finish the curriculum, unlike private schools because the number of classes prescribed for teaching the curriculum is not proportional with its large size.

He pointed out that private schools have informed their students that there is no vacation so that they can finish the curriculum, explaining that private schools decide this on their own because there is no oversight over them.

Darwish explained that private schools are looking for distinguished students in public schools and grant them scholarships and salaries so that the names of these schools become widely known and thus attract students to them.

In the same context, educational expert Hisham Hatamleh explained that the number of classes prescribed for general secondary students in public schools is much lower than the classes prescribed in private schools, adding that private schools finish the curriculum in an easier way.

He continued that the new curricula that were approved, if they remained on the number of classes approved by the Ministry of Education, would not be completed on time, indicating that the teacher in public schools is unable to finish the curriculum on time.

He suggested that the number of classes prescribed for the curriculum should be increased or reduced due to its length and the large number of materials in it, especially the scientific curricula.