AMMAN - A decision on whether Jordanians studying medicine in Yemen will be accepted at local universities is expected to be announced next month, a government official said on Saturday.
"A list of the students' names with details about their subjects was sent to the prime minister's office," Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Secretary General Mustafa Odwan said, adding that the decision will be issued before the start of the new academic year on September 15.
Approximately 988 Jordanians who were pursuing their higher education in Yemen and cannot return due to the current situation in the country are awaiting the government's decision allowing them to join the Kingdom's public universities.
Of the total, 663 are studying medicine and 68 are dentistry students.
Four public universities in the country teach medical courses: the University of Jordan, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Mutah University and the Hashemite University.
"In such circumstances, we cannot but accept all students," Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Wajih Owais said, referring to the Gulf War when Jordanian students studying in Iraq returned to the Kingdom.
"All of them were accepted in Jordanian universities then, and some of them went back to Iraq after one year," the minister said.
Earlier this month Owais told The Jordan Times that many of the Jordanian students in Yemen have Tawjihi grades that are lower than the minimum admission average in local medical faculties.
Official figures indicate that only 376 of the 663 students studying medicine in Yemen have Tawjihi scores of 85 per cent or above - the minimum admission average for medical schools in Jordan.
The figures also indicated that 50 of the students are in the sixth year, 106 in the fifth, 64 in the fourth, 118 in the third, 151 in the second and 179 in their first year.
Although around 50 per cent of these students do not meet the admission criteria for medicine, "the Higher Education Council can make exceptions, in specific circumstances", University of Jordan (UJ) President Adel Tweisi said.
"We will abide by the council's decision, but each university has the right to evaluate students' performance in the subject they are studying," he told The Jordan Times over the phone yesterday.
"It is impossible for the UJ to give a certificate to a student who only studies the sixth year there... So we will evaluate students' levels and based on this, decide how many subjects they should repeat," he noted.
© Jordan Times 2011
