Investing in e-learning remains a priority for UNHCR Jordan

AMMAN — As refugee and Jordanian students prepare to return to school, UNHCR Jordan has been working closely with the Ministry of Education and educational providers across the Kingdom in developing the technology and modalities to facilitate continued e-learning, the UN agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

Building on the organisations experience at its 10 Connected Learning Hubs, the Kolibri platform, which provides Arabic based courses from maths and English to science and coding, has been integrated within Noorspace, an online platform operated by the Ministry of Education and Queen Rania Centre for Information Technology, to create online virtual classrooms.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, over 1 million users have logged into the Noorspace e-learning platform which allows students and teachers to interact online and is operated alongside Darsak which broadcasts lessons to students on TV and online.

The integration of Kolibri has diversified the learning materials and courses available to students in Jordan.

These courses have also been aligned with the Jordanian curriculum by Madrasati, a local Jordanian NGO, so that as children return to classrooms from September, they can take what they have learnt online back into schools.

“The integration of Kolibri with Noorspace is an exciting development, utilising expertise-built working with refugees to the further benefit of the wider Jordanian population,” said Zeina Jadaan, UNHCR Jordan education officer, in the statement.

“Even as children prepare to return to school, e-learning still represents a vital educational tool. Platforms such as Kolibri used during the coronavirus crisis can continue to be built upon and utilised in coordination with in-person teaching. We look forward to our continued collaboration with the Ministry of Education in this regard,” she added.

“Jordan is joining in global efforts to ensure student’s right to education despite the pandemic. The Ministry of Education, in all of its administrative and academic cadres, is working to develop and prepare the best scenarios to ensure the continuity of education”, Education Minister Tayseer Nueimi said in the statement.

In addition to integrating the Kolibri platform within national education systems, over 4,000 refugee and Jordanian students have accessed its virtual classes directly as part of UNHCR supported education programs.

Previously used within UNHCR’s community centres, as centres closed due to the coronavirus crisis, the online/offline nature of the Kolibri platform has meant that refugee and Jordanian students alike, have continued to be able to access the platform and its courses remotely from home, the statement said.

The Kolibri platform, supported by Learning Equality, aims to facilitate people’s right to a quality education, by supporting the creation, adaptation and distribution of open educational resources, and creating supportive tools for innovative pedagogy, read the statement.

It can be accessed online and offline once downloaded. Strengthening the quality of education and availability of resources is a key part of UNHCR’s strategy, concluded the statement.