Jordan transforms education challenges into opportunities during COVID-19 crisis

Each evening at 18H, sirens echo throughout Jordan, announcing the curfew, which lasts until 10H each morning. The kingdom has been under lockdown since March 21st, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

As of May 3rd, 459 cumulative cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Jordan. While Jordan’s case load may seem modest in comparison to the over 3 million cases confirmed globally, the country is not taking any chances and thus far appears to be containing the spread of the disease. A country wide closure of kindergartens, schools, universities and all educational institutions has been in place since March 15th, 2020 affecting 2,372,736 learners.

The Technical Vocational and Education Training (TVET) sector has been seeking to ensure the continuity of education during this crisis as not all Higher Education Institutions are able to provide online alternatives for students. Availability of online practical training, which lies at the core of TVET, has been a challenge for students. TVET has enabled the provision of learning opportunities to those most at risk in Jordan, including adolescent girls, refugees and vulnerable Jordanian youth. The immediate impact of COVID-19 must be monitored closely, targeting in particular TVET drop-outs and finding innovative ways to address this challenge.

Recently, Aseel Sheikh Ahmad, 22, completed her Hotel Management programme with a scholarship offered under the UNESCO “Provision of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for vulnerable Jordanian and Syrian Refugee Youth” project, implemented with generous funding and strong partnership from the Government of the Republic of Korea. Following her completion of the practical on-the-job training portion of the programme, Luminus hired Aseel as a Barista.