Khaberni - Mohammed Shahadeh, the Director of Examinations and Testing at the Ministry of Education, said on Sunday that the decision regarding the distribution of students across fields does not apply to those born in 2009. Instead, it will start being implemented from the next academic year on those born in 2010, emphasizing that the student's preference remains the primary and fundamental criterion in the distribution of students across fields, whether according to the new or previous criteria.
Shahadeh explained that distributing students based on their academic performance is not new, as they were previously distributed between the academic and vocational tracks, as well as among the literary and scientific branches, according to achievement and preference. He noted that student capabilities are an important factor in the distribution process across fields.
Shahadeh clarified that, based on monitoring the preferences of students born in 2008, there was significant 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 choices to other fields.
He pointed out that the new decision would achieve harmony between the student's preference and capabilities, making their choices more mature and reducing the need to change fields at the start of the following academic semester. He noted that the new criteria, which will be implemented next year, set a 30% capacity limit for each educational directorate, with no more than 30% of students in any field exceeding this percentage on the level of the directorate, not the school.
Shahadeh confirmed that the decision has a positive impact by ensuring a harmonious distribution of students across fields and preventing overcrowding in certain fields at the expense of others, thereby achieving alignment between educational outcomes and the requirements of higher education and the labor market.
He elaborated that based on the distribution of students born in 2008, selection processes would only be necessary in limited and few cases. He explained that setting a 30% limit for each field at the directorate level would lead to selections in fields with higher demand, ensuring that students with higher capabilities are selected.
He added that mathematics would be included for all fields in the eleventh grade as part of the four fields in the academic track, and English in the twelfth grade, with the decision's implementation starting as approved by the Council of Education and Teaching from the next academic year.
He mentioned that this step would facilitate student choices and make the fields clearer to them, explaining that the new plan had merged similar fields, which enhances the quality of the educational process, achieves the desired learning outcomes, and ensures a balanced distribution of students aligned with the inputs of general education and the requirements of higher education and the labor market.
The Ministry of Education had confirmed the importance of the decision regarding the criteria for distributing eleventh-grade students across the four fields in the academic track, as it plays a central role in enhancing the quality of the educational process, achieving the required learning outcomes, and ensuring a balanced distribution of students in line with the inputs of general education, higher education, and labor market requirements.
