Khaberni - Director of Examinations and Testing at the Ministry of Education, Mohammad Shihadeh, said on Sunday that the decision related to the distribution of students to fields will not be applied to those born in 2009, but will start to be applied from the next academic year for those born in 2010, emphasizing that the student's desire remains the first and fundamental criterion for distributing students to fields, whether according to the new or previous principles.
Shihadeh explained that distributing students according to their academic achievement is not new, as they were previously distributed between the academic and vocational tracks, as well as to literary and scientific branches of education according to achievement and desire, indicating that students' abilities are an important factor in the distribution process according to the Kingdom.
He noted that based on monitoring the desires of students born in 2008, there was a high demand for health education. However, the results of the first year of the general secondary examination showed that about 10% of the students changed their selections to other fields.
He mentioned that the new decision will achieve harmony between a student's desire and their abilities, making their choices more mature and reducing the need to change fields at the start of the next academic term. He pointed out that the new principles, which will be implemented next year, define an absorption capacity for each directorate of education and training at 30% of the students for each field, so that the number of students in any field does not exceed 30% of the total number of students at the directorate level, not at the school level.
He affirmed that the decision has a positive effect in ensuring a harmonious distribution of students to fields, preventing the overcrowding of students in certain fields at the expense of others, ultimately achieving alignment between educational outputs and the requirements of higher education and the labor market.
He clarified that based on the distribution of students born in 2008, sorting will only be resorted to in limited and few cases, stating that setting a rate of 30% for each field at the directorate level will lead to sorting in some fields which experience high demand, ensuring the selection of students with higher capabilities.
He added that mathematics will be included for all fields in the eleventh grade within the four fields in the academic track, and English language in the twelfth grade, with the decision's implementation beginning according to what was approved by the Council of Education and Training from the next academic year.
He pointed out that this step will contribute to facilitating students' choices and making the fields clearer to them, explaining that the new plan merged similar fields, which plays a role in enhancing the quality of the educational process, achieving the desired learning outcomes and ensuring a balanced distribution of students that aligns with general education inputs and the requirements of higher education and the labor market.
The Ministry of Education affirmed the importance of the decision related to the principles of distributing eleventh-grade students to the four fields in the academic track, due to its pivotal role in enhancing the quality of the educational process, achieving the required learning outcomes, and ensuring a balanced distribution of students in accordance with general education inputs and the requirements of higher education and the labor market.
