Ammon News - AMMAN ––– Over 50,000 students passed the Tawjihi summer session, according to exam results announced on Saturday, as reckless celebratory behaviour resulted in several injuries across the country.

Approximately 50,362 students passed this year’s Tawjihi (General Secondary School Certificate Examination) summer session, exam results released early yesterday indicated.

According to the Ministry of Education, 41,948 students scored 65 per cent or higher, the prerequisite for obtaining a seat at a public university, while 5,955 scored 90 per cent and above.

The results, which were announced yesterday by Minister of Education Khalid Karaki, also revealed that female students dominated the list of top achievers in all streams.

“A total of 118,031 students sat for the exam in the academic, vocational and home schooling streams,” Karaki said during a press conference yesterday, describing the results as “satisfactory”.

The pass ratio in the regular academic stream, which includes literary, scientific, Sharia, IT and health education, stood at 57.1 per cent, while it stood at 36.4 per cent in the regular vocational stream, comprising agricultural, industrial, hospitality and domestic education, according to the ministry.

The percentage of students who passed the home schooling academic and vocational streams stood to 34.9 and 44.4 per cent respectively, according to the ministry.

During yesterday’s conference, Karaki said he is determined to end students’ reliance on private tutors, stressing that the ministry is committed to providing students with competent teachers in all subjects.

Abdullah Malkawi, who ranked third in the scientific stream with a score of 98.9, said he did not need a private tutor to achieve his Tawjihi marks, noting that he relied on studying and time management.

Malkawi, a student from an Amman private school, added that the summer session’s exams were “very accurate” and required “a lot of concentration”.

Aseel Qadoumi, who ranked seventh in the health education stream with a score of 93.5, noted that the exam’s “difficulty” led to a lower pass ratio than in the previous session.

“A lot of my friends scored high in the winter session, but were surprised by the low scores they received in this session,” Qadoumi, a student of the Ruseifa Secondary Vocational School, told The Jordan Times over the phone yesterday, adding that she studied day and night to achieve her marks.

Mohammad Zamili ranked first in the scientific stream, scoring 99.5, followed by Haia Rawabdeh, a female student from an Irbid public school, who received 99.1.

In the literary stream, Ruba Madi, a female student from a private school in Amman, ranked first, scoring 98.5, followed by Aya Abdeen, an Amman public school student, with 98.2.

Another student from the capital, Dina Hassan, topped the IT stream with a score of 99.0, while Marwa Abu Baker ranked first in the health education stream, scoring 94.7.

In addition, 11 out of 80 inmates from correctional and rehabilitation centres who sat for the Tawjihi passed their exams, Public Security Department (PSD) Spokesperson Lt. Colonel Mohammad Khatib told The Jordan Times.

He noted that those who passed achieved “good or very good” results in the exams.

Reckless driving

Meanwhile, celebratory behaviour caused several injuries across the country, according to police officials.

Following the announcement of the Tawjihi results yesterday, the PSD reported 283 cases of reckless driving in the form of celebratory car processions in Amman.

“Around 40 to 65 car processions were reported in the rest of the governorates,” Khatib told The Jordan Times.

He indicated that four people were injured as a result of festive firing.

“Stray bullets fired in the air in expressions of joy resulted in the injury of four people in Amman,” he said, adding that the injured are all listed in fair condition.

One Tawjihi-related suicide attempt was registered in the central region, the police spokesperson said, indicating that the student is in “poor condition”.

Khatib stressed that police have increased the number of patrols monitoring the Kingdom’s streets in order to crack down on irresponsible celebratory behaviours.


By Laila Azzeh/ The Jordan Times

** Students hang out of cars in a motorcade to celebrate the announcement of Tawjihi results on Saturday (Photo by Raad Adayleh)