Reports | 25 05 2020
A lot of refugee students in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, turned to private lessons during the school year, to reduce the difference between the Syrian and Jordanian curricula for high school certificate.
Mohammed -Syrian student in the third secondary in Zaatari camp- tried to leave the school because of tuition, he told Rozana: "Frankly, I tried to leave but my father did not accept this sort of thing, wanted me to complete my studies."
The educational reality
Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees, is the fourth largest city in Jordan and the second largest refugee camp in the world in terms of population, an area of up to about 6 square kilometers, comprising 20 to 21 thousand students from different age groups.
The responsible of the examinations in the Syrian National Coalition, and member of the Syrian teachers in Zaatari ‘Anwar Al-Masri’, says: "There are 21 schools of different categories in the camp, and the curriculum taught in the camp, is Jordanian, where it is supervised by the Ministry of Education in Jordan."
Anwar confirms that the number of the dropouts inside the camp, camp up to nearly 6 thousand Syrian student, and that this phenomenon began to fade.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Education of Jordan, Walid Al-Jallad, said that the high school diploma exam program, will begin at 06/13/2016 and ends on 26/06/2016.
Note that the Syrian students holding a Jordanian high-school certificate, treated as the Jordanian students in universities.
Why private lessons?
Most of the Syrian students in the camp stop their study, so it was necessary to find an alternative solution to help them keep abreast of new educational conditions.
Mohammed, Syrian refugees, says he began private lessons for nearly two months ago, adding: "I began when I felt that I have a weakness in math and English."
Mohammed Hussein, teacher at the camp, explains that the main objective behind the idea of tutoring is to strengthen students in science, mathematics, physics, and foreign languages.
He adds: "The Syrian curricula differ from the Jordanian, hence the idea of working on the creating groups of students, and give them private lessons in exchange for a nominal simple amount could be up to two dinars for an hour, and each session includes five or six students."
Heavy cost!
The bad financial reality faced by refugees in the camp, makes private lessons’ costs a burden on the parents of the students, although they are symbolic.
The Syrian student Mohammed says, "I have lessons with a teacher in the camp, 3 times a week, but this is expensive for us as a family, 20 or 30 dinars a month or approximately 30 or $ 40 is not a few sum of money inside the camp."
While the student Nasser Gillan believes that: "Despite the high cost, but the lessons solve a big problem for us, especially that the teachers are Syrians and know the instruction stages and circumstances experienced by Syrian students."
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Education of Jordan, offers more than 800 Jordanians teachers and with the support of 250 Syrian teachers, so as to conduct the educational process for Syrian refugees, spread over 21 schools within Zaatari refugee camp.