ISSUE No. 2 March 2018 THE IFMSA JO NEWSPAPER
#LoveOverViolence
Why do we go to University AS MANY OPT TO CONTINUE WITH HIGHER EDUCATION, AND HIGH SKILLED PROFESSION FACE SATURATION IN JORDAN, IT MAY BE TIME TO ASK WHY WE GO TO UNIVERSITY IN THE FIRST PLACE? By Amr Jarajrah University has become an essential part of our educational journey as we currently need, more than ever, to improve our lives and lead our region to a better future. Fortunately, numbers and statistics are on our side when it comes to achieving this goal. The Arab world has been recently witnessing a tremendous decrease in illiteracy rates. In 1970 the percentage of illiterates in the Arab world was over 70%. By 2011 the numbers had drastically declined to below 23% (latest statistics). Although we don’t have any updated statistical evidence that the percentage has declined any further, it’s apparent in our everyday lives. Up until 1953, only 14 public and private universities had been established in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, but now we have over 380 universities which clearly demonstrates the unprecedented interest in pursuing and improving university education in the region, and further emphasizes it’s not neglected or considered a luxury as it once was. For example, in Jordan, over
79% of high school graduates continue their education and join universities. These numbers may vary from one Arab country to another. The progression of the higher education sector has been accompanied by financial investments. Current expenditure on this sector, according to a recent study published by Al Masah Capital Limited, has reached an average of 3.8 percent of the gross domestic product in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries – higher than that of many developed nations – and this figure is expected to continue to increase.[1] With all that said, why do most of us go to university? Why do we spend a large sum of our income on it? To answer these questions we’ve talked to the core of the educational system; the students, and their parents to get a glimpse of the bigger picture from their point of view. Why education in general and university education in particula “Interesting, I’ve never thought about it.”
● Anonymous female, 23 “It goes like this: kindergarten, school, and then university. This is the normal cycle that we’ve been raised to follow.” ● Raid George, 21 “I might sound silly but it’s the tradition.” ● Anonymous male, 22 “Our lives were different, living was different, even families are not the same now. We didn’t fear the future but I don’t think the same applies to our kids.” ● Sumaya Salim, 44 “We’ve seen how educated people walked through the streets of our village.” ● Anonymous male, 70 “We want to get our children the best. We want them to live better lives than the ones we lived” ● Faisal Salameh, 52 Education in the light of employment: (or regarding education and employment) “Very important, even though not everyone works in the field they’ve studied.” ● Ahmad Mhammad, 26 “I think it offers a sense of security. Even though I’m currently unemployed, I feel like I have something to rely on forever. I’ll eventually find a job and that’s because I
have a degree.” ● Anonymous female, 27 We’re seeing hundreds and thousands of students joining universities and graduating every year. Do you think that affects the calibre of graduates? “Who cares about knowledge, all I want is a better chance of getting a better job.” ● Anonymous male, 23 “From my experience in the market, I noticed that when considering applications for jobs, employers tend to care more about the educational level of the applicant, rather than their practical knowledge. I think this is why we’re getting quantity rather than quality.” ● Tamer, 44 “I’ll ell you a story about an IT guy that we have in our workplace. He’s so good; we wouldn’t survive a day without him. He can fix computers, design posters, and do just about everything. But since we’re working in the public sector, and he doesn’t have a degree, he’s being paid as much as the receptionist that doesn’t properly do her job. If he had a degree in anything, his job and income would’ve been much better.” ● Anonymous female, 37 In some countries of the region, unemployment among university graduates is higher than that among those with nothing more than primary education. What do you think about that? And do you still believe that the normal course of education is
suitable for everyone? “A degree is a degree, whether it’s being used or not. Do you wa me to be unemployed and without a degree?” ● Anonymous male, 23 “People tend to respect educated individuals. We do too, and we want our kids to be respected.” ● Lubna Taha, 39 Eventually, we’ve reached a point where most of us go to university to follow through with the standard pattern; to avoid being a step behind while everyone supposedly moves forward, and to be validated by what’s deemed conventional. Some of the answers to my questions were rather blunt revealing the undeniable fact that a great portion of our students go through the four-, five- or even the sixyear ordeal for the sake of being a step ahead no matter what the expense is. The idea that many of us spend years going to classes to get a piece of paper declaring that we’ve successfully completed something, we might’ve not wanted in the first place, is terrifying. [1] The State of Higher Education in the Middle East; https://www.usnews.com/ news/college-of-tomorrow/ articles/2014/12/17/op-edthe-state-of-higher-education-in-the-middle-east
يف عيدك بلغنا العنان عملك و جمتمعك،إليكي سيدتي نرسل أمجل مرسال شكر؛ ِلا بادرتي يف بيتك. ، فعلى مر التاريخ.أنت األم احلنونة والعاملة يف بناء عماد جمتمعنا األردني واملساهمة يف تطوره واالجتماعية حبسب، واالقتصادية،اختلفت مشاركات املرأة األردنية يف احلياة السياسية أ ّما اآلن. والتقاليد اليت تتسم بها كل حقبة زمنية، والقانونية، والثقافية،األعراف الدينية ، وحسب آخر االحصائيات.فيسري الوضع حيث تضمن املرأة األردنية حريتها وحقوقها القانونية وبلغت نسبة االيدي العاملة النسوية يف، يف املشاركة بالربملان األردني٪١١،١ بلغت املرأة نسبة ٪١٥،٦ االردن شكراً زوجيت وشكراً ابنيت ملا قدمنت من تضحيات وملا واجهنت من، شكراً أخيت،شكراً أمي حتديات ألجل من ففي عيد ُكن بلغنا العنان،حولكن !عيدك ّن سعيد Ifmsa-jo.org/Publications
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