Queen Rania Foundation
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Exploring Jordan’s schools: Findings from Jordan’s 2018 National Teacher Survey

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Introduction

This brief highlights some of the main findings from Jordan’s 2018 National Teacher Survey around Jordan’s schools, based on principal reports. Findings are presented either on a national level, or disaggregated by school type and principal gender. The main findings of the analysis are outlined below.

Human Resources

  1. Grade 1-6 principal reports revealed that UNRWA schools seemed to be the most well-staffed, whereas private schools were the most resourced among grade 7-10 schools.
  2. Principal reports revealed that grade 7-10 private schools had the highest average number of total staff (55), while UNRWA had the lowest (31).
  3. MoE and private grade 1-6 schools had a lower average of reported number of teachers (20 and 23, respectively) compared to grade 7-10 schools (25 and 30, respectively). This is expected as grades 1-3 typically have classroom teachers, while grades 4 and above require a teacher for each subject.
  4. Despite UNRWA schools having a higher percentage of teachers when compared to their MoE and private school counterparts, the average student to teacher ratios in UNRWA schools (28:1 for grade 7-10) were much higher than in grade 7-10 MoE (17:1) and private schools (15:1).
  5. More than half of principals nationally, across both grade levels, reported that a shortage of qualified teachers hindered quality instruction “to some extent” or “a lot”.

Physical Resources

  1. MoE schools seemed to be the least well off in terms of physical resources compared to UNRWA and private schools.
  2. UNRWA school principals were the least likely to report shortage of library materials as an issue that hinders quality provision compared to their counterparts; 83% of UNRWA grade 1-6 school principals reported the lack of library materials affected their schools’ provision “not at all” or “very little”, compared to 34% and 69% of MoE and private school principals, respectively.
  3. Internet access was nearly ubiquitous across all school types. This was especially true for UNRWA schools; all UNRWA principals reported having internet access across both school levels.
  4. Meanwhile, wi-fi provision was less common across all school types. However, private school principals were much more likely to report having wi-fi (more than 80%), compared to principals at MoE schools (25%) and UNRWA schools (fewer than 20%).
  5. Principal reports revealed quality instruction was more likely to be hindered by issues related to technology in grade 1-6 schools compared to grade 7-10 schools.

Makeup of the Student Body

  1. Private schools were the most likely to have students whose first language differs from language of instruction, when compared to MoE and UNRWA schools.
  2. Principal reports revealed that MoE and UNRWA schools were more likely to have students from socio-economically disadvantaged homes compared to private schools.
  3. Principal reports showed that UNRWA schools had the highest proportion of students with special needs, while private schools had the lowest.