Ihsan Al-Faqih

Jordanian Author
What is happening now with the teachers' syndicate in Jordan is an example of the continuous attempts to break down the educational organizations, exclude them from the essence of the educational process and reduce their role to administrative and organizational issues; all of which are part of a comprehensive plan to alter the Jordanian identity.

A Hashemite Rule with an Arabian Reference

Jordan emerged with a national Arabian tradition, with a royal family that took legitimacy due to their Hashemite descent, thus affecting all the sectors in the country. The Zionist occupation of Palestine left an undeniable impact on the cultural, social and political structure of the Jordanian state and community.

The educational philosophy in Jordan draws on the Islamic civilizational aspect, stating that it "is based on the Jordanian constitution, the Arab Islamic civilization and the concepts of the Great Arab Revolt and the Jordanian national experience." In its national and humanitarian principles, it is stated that "Jordan is part of the Arab World, and the Jordanian people is part of the Arab Muslim nation. Jordan adheres to the Arab identity of Palestine and all occupied lands of the Arab World and is eager to reclaim them. Jordan considers the Palestinian cause as a crucial issue for the Jordanian people, and the Zionist aggression against Palestine as a political, military and cultural challenge to the Arab Muslim nation in general and Jordan in particular. Jordan also considers the Arab nation as a deep-rooted truth and the Arab unity as vital for its presence and development." 

Abolishing the Philosophy of the Jordanian Education

Subjected to continuous attempts of voiding to match certain imposed cultural variables, this philosophy is the essence of the ongoing conflict represented by the disagreements between the teachers' syndicate and the government.

For decades, Jordan has rejected international organizations' demands to remove Qur'anic verses and prophetic Hadiths related to Jews and other lessons discussing the Arab-Zionist conflict from the school curricula, according to the Former Minister of Education, Is'haac al-Farhan. However, since the peace treaty was signed with the Zionists, the educational curricula in Jordan have begun to change gradually, as servants of this wretched peace have climbed to authority. The ultimate aim of the change is to serve the requirements of the next era, where this enemy is seen as a cooperating friend. Verses and Hadiths on the Jews were deleted and the whole subject of "Palestinian Cause" was removed from school and university curricula. In 2016, crucial modifications were made all at once. For instance, hundreds of Qur'anic verses and Hadiths were deleted from the books in an evident act of detaching the society from its Muslim identity.

Queen Academy retains teachers' training

With enormous foreign funding and internal budget allocations, Queen Rania Teacher Academy launched its teacher training programs in line with the curriculum change agendas. The training mission was moved from the Ministry of Education to the Academy's center that was opened on the Jordanian University campus with a long-term cheap lease agreement after the University President himself was overthrown for rejecting such a demeaning act.

Uprooting the Curricula

The process of preparing and developing the curricula had long been controlled by the Ministry of Education, which was built by the hands of remarkable Muslim and Arab personalities. Therefore, all the efforts to remove the national and Muslim content of the curricula were faced with inherent rejection and could only be effected slowly and gradually. This was certainly not the desire of the new decision makers, who refuse the slightest evidence of righteousness remaining in the curricula. Therefore, efforts were doubled to detach the process of curricula development from the Ministry and its original staff who contributed to the development of the curricula of many Arab countries and the construction of their educational structures.

The establishment of the National Center for Curriculum Development came as a serious step on the road of sabotaging the Jordanian curriculum. With this act, the government wasted the tremendous efforts made since the inception of the state to build the educational structure. The government simply wasted a long history of Jordanian expertise that formulated the best educational curricula in the region. Having disapproved this step, the Former Minister, Mohammed Al-Thanaibat, was overthrown by the queen despite the courage he had showed when he took responsibility for the curriculum modifications in 2016. Omar Al-Razzaz was appointed to gradually continue the planned change. Many of the curriculum modification guides came directly from the American Embassy and were even written in English, even those pertaining to the Islamic Education subject.

Teachers' Syndicate and Attempts to tame the Tigers

After training the teachers and changing the curricula, the following step was naturally related to the teachers' syndicate law. The syndicate was formed as a result of the Arab spring and against the will of the government. Therefore, its members formed a qualitative and quantitative burden due to their social presence, which was an obstacle before her majesty's absolute control over the educational process in Jordan and over the planned seizure of the country institutions' educational mission.

Two years ago, the amendment to the teachers' syndicate law made it somewhat difficult for the syndicate to form a leading force. The amendment constrained its scope of work, turning it into a cooperative society without any actual power to protect its members' rights or have a say in the school curricula, despite being most qualified for that mission as they are in the field practicing the profession and getting the feedback.

 

Collins; the Queen is all that Matters

Not only did the state detach the curricula from the Ministry of Education and forbid the teachers' syndicate to participate in their planning, the new curricula were imposed by a foreign company called "Collins" to remove the last thread of national sense in the curricula of Math and Science for the first and fifth grades. Unlike similar governmental acts, this change was conducted without the control of constitution or legislations. Instead, direct instructions were given by the queen. This explains why no bids were submitted for this matter, why it was completed in a short time and why no one was held accountable for the grave mistakes discovered in the new curricula.

Fruitless Tree

Having completed these steps, the Ministry turned from an incubator of competent teachers and excellent curricula that could even help other Arab countries into an employee management department responsible for teachers' working hours and vacations. What a painful destruction of a national achievement by a queen that turned the syndicate into a fruitless tree!

Tigers are Tigers

The teachers' syndicate, especially the current council, was the only entity that remained alert to this destruction and continued its efforts to retrieve its role. After the last elections, the council was formed by an Islamic-national coalition, which stood against the current damage to the educational process. With its undeniable influence on every house in the Kingdom, the syndicate's presence is the last fortress in the face of this brainwashing identity-changing hurricane.

 

A Strike for Dignity

The syndicate's strike was not held for material rights only, nor was it about the problems and demands of teachers alone. The longest strike in the history of Jordan was a living proof that everything is possible if there is a strong will. It proved that rights are seized and not offered. The Jordanian teachers gave an excellent example to their students and the society as a whole; an example of dignity. The Jordanian teacher now is not the same he was before the strike. Teachers now choose to act rather than react. They no longer follow the norm and bow when the wind seems too strong. The government's attempts to threaten the teachers with the law and defame them all failed due to the unprecedented public support to the syndicate's actions that were found to represent the demands of the entire people. The final result was the long-waited success of the strike.

Targeted Again

What is happening now is a live representation of the King's tweet after the end of the strike last year, when he was expected to act as a leader and comment on a national issue that would happen in all democratic states. Instead, he spoke out of vengeance, as he could not have an influencing entity from within the people to work in line with the Jordanian citizen's culture and hinder the accelerating plan of curriculum change. Since the end of the strike, government bodies have attempted to dismantle the newly-formed public unity through attacking the syndicate. However, their efforts were slowed down by the outbreak of the corona pandemic.

Requirements of Naturalization

The meeting held between the King and bin Zayed right before the government's actions against the teachers was not about the Muslim Brotherhood or the teacher's syndicate in specific. It was rather an Emirati mediation between the King and Zionists on the matter of the Deal of the Century and all matters related to the complete Zionist seizure of the West Bank lands in what is known as "the annexation plan". To achieve such purposes, it is essential to contain any influencing power including the teachers' syndicate.

Curricula are the Key Issue

The syndicate vice president's meetings with the Curriculum Development Center were the reason for recent actions against the syndicate, which expressed its opinion against the eminent danger caused by the curriculum change.

The syndicate may seem to be the target, but the true target is the Jordanian identity. The threat is not against the syndicate alone, and suspending the syndicate council for two years is but an indicator of a grave danger threatening the entire society through new curriculum changes intended to be passed in peace.

Victory is but an Hour of Patience

The current conflict in Jordan is a conflict of identity between a civil liberal Zionistic current that is running deep at crucial control points and is run directly from the castle and a syndicate that reflects the identity, will and Arab-Mislim affiliation of the Jordanian society. The battle is vicious, and the government's political minds still have not understood the lesson of the teachers' strike. They do not understand that repeating the Egyptian experience and accusing any opposing entity of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood cannot work in Jordan. Therefore, these attempts backfired at the government. The battle is long, and depends on steadfastness. The people supports the syndicate through holding strikes and protests. The government detains and arrests in public, while sending mediators and secret messages to try to contain the unexpected public protests. The syndicate is standing strong, unwilling to waive its rights to having a true role in the educational process. And victory is, surely, but an hour of patience.

Taken from personal website