The Community’s Requests to Continue Remedial Education under NLG
The remedial classes, provided by World Vision Jordan in public schools targeting Syrian refugees and Jordanian school students, have had a positive impact. As word has spread, several other schools have requested the programme be extended into their institutions.
Remedial education is part of the formal education system in Jordan. The classes provide supplemental instructions and exercises in three main subjects: Arabic, English and math. These classes target Syrian students who have had a hard time adapting to the Jordanian education system and Jordanian students who have fallen behind. World Vision Jordan provides these classes under the No Lost Generation (NLG): Stand By Me project, funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The goal of the classes is to enable children and youth to have sustained and improved access to appropriate education opportunities in a protective learning environment.
In Rusaifeh city, in central Jordan, the outcomes of the remedial education have left the community—which many consider to be a pocket of poverty—wanting more. “This program not only impacted the academic achievement of the students, I also noticed also that after participating in this programme [some students] became more social, positive and had more initiative,” said Mrs. Suad, the principal, who noted that many parents requested the remedial classes be available on an ongoing basis for their students. Currently, the programme is designed to support specific students for six months only. The idea is that after six months, the students should have achieved increased academic performance and be able to continue in the classroom on their own.
The same request was also mentioned by beneficiaries schools in Irbid, north Jordan. High number of registration in this program was noticed by the school principal. “The members of host community were disappointed when the program ended in November 2015. Nevertheless, they were enthused to have their children benefiting from these classes”, said Mrs. Ghada, the principal, communicating the feedback of the community members on these classes and requesting the continuity of this programme.
World Vision is implementing the No Lost Generation: Stand By Me project in 28 schools across Jordan, 12 out of those are benefiting from remedial education helping 2,040 students to increase their academic performance.