Sep 06, 2012

AMMAN -- The Unified Admissions Committee on Thursday announced the names of 39,935 students who were accepted at the Kingdom's 10 public universities for the 2012-2013 academic year.

The list allocated 20 per cent of seats for children of military personnel, 5 per cent for teachers' offspring, 5 per cent for those who finished Tawjihi in previous years and 5 per cent for Jordanians who finished their secondary education abroad, in addition to 350 seats for those living in Palestinian refugee camps.

More lists will soon be announced outside the Unified Admissions List, raising the total number of students accepted into public universities for this academic year to 45,147 students, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Wajih Oweis said.

These include 730 students who were accepted into fine arts, architecture and architectural engineering, and veterinary medicine programmes through direct applications to universities, 3,400 students admitted through the quota allocated for the badia, and 1,000 students who passed community college exams and applied to bridge into universities.

At a press conference on Thursday, the minister said the number of acceptances this year was similar to last year's figures in most subjects, although admission rates to three of the Kingdom's four colleges of medicine were lower, except at the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST).

The University of Jordan, JUST, Mutah and Al Al Bayt universities are the only higher education institutions in Jordan that offer medical programmes.

Meanwhile, Oweis called on students who applied for subjects that their Tawjihi (General Secondary Certificate Examination) scores did not qualify them to study to apply again through the ministry's website over the next five days.

Each year, thousands of students apply for subjects that require Tawjihi averages higher than what they obtained. The ministry provides them with another chance to apply for universities and announces their names in a separate list.

Another list will include admissions of Jordanians who hold non-Jordanian secondary education certificates such as the SAT and IB. Only 100 seats are allocated for these students, according to the minister.

Also on Thursday, Oweis said that the Cabinet had allocated JD25 million for the students' fund, which offers university students scholarships or loans.

The ministry's strategy, he noted, is to provide 90-95 per cent of university students with loans or scholarships. Currently, the average is 40-45 per cent.

To implement this plan, Oweis explained that the ministry is currently negotiating with the Jordanian Armed Forces to increase the number of scholarships allocated for children of military personnel to 30 per cent instead of 20 per cent, and with the Ministry of Education to raise the ratio of students covered by its scholarships from 5 per cent to 10 per cent.

© Jordan Times 2012