https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35494 2026-04-05T01:42:26Z 2026-04-05T01:42:26Z Sultana, Ronald G. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35769 2018-11-07T02:31:13Z 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Syria's global education initiative Authors: Sultana, Ronald G. Abstract: Three main factors have to be kept in mind when considering education in the Syrian Arab Republic, namely: a high population growth rate, which stood over 3% during 1981-1997; a young age structure, with close to 50% of the population being under the age of 15 in the year 2000; and an unequal distribution of population growth throughout the country, with the ruralurban migration still significant, though presently declining (see Gennaoui, 1995; UNICEF, 1996, 1998; INJEP, 2000). In the twenty years between 1970 and 1990, the number of students multiplied by 82 times (INJEP, 2000, p.126). These demographic factors obviously impact on the challenges that education has to face in meeting increasing and differentiated demands. Syria's eighth 5-Year National Development Plan (1996-2000) reflects a continued strong commitment to social development, with a stress on the development of education in all its forms, the eradication of illiteracy, the improvement of the quality and access to health and environmental education. Around 6.10% of the National budget is earmarked for primary education, and that represents 54.5% of the total Ministry of Education (MOE) budget. Primary schooling has been compulsory since 1981, and starts at the age of 6, lasts for 6 years, with enroIlment being close to 100% for boys, and over 98% for girls. There is a slight variation by settlement type, from 98.6% in urban areas to 91.6% in peri-urban areas, and by region from 99.6% in the Coastline region to 92.6% in the North region. Most schools are run by the state, with less than 3% being private, and 2% being managed by United Nations Relief and Works Association (UNRWA). The lower-secondary level (Grades 7-9) and the higher secondary level (Grades 10-12) are also free but not compulsory. A selective examination determines whether students proceed to a general or technical track after Grade 9, with the former being by far the most popular option. Enrollment falls off considerably as students move to the secondary cycle (children aged 12-14 years), with net enrollment being 71.6% nationally, but only 47% in peri-urban areas and 49.5% in the North region. Enrollment is slightly higher among boys at the primary level, and slightly higher among girls at the secondary level. The system is highly centralized with regards to conception and planning, though since the 1980' s there have been attempts to emphasize decentralization. Governorates have directorates of education which manage a number of roles including determining the location of schools, appointing teachers, distributing teaching materials, and organizing training programs. But it is still the MOE which defines policy, designs curricula and textbooks, implements major programs, allocates resources, and monitors practice through its inspectorate. Syria's primary education curriculum tends to be traditional and theoretical' , putting emphasis on factual data rather than on scientific concepts, attitudes, skills and values. Teaching methods tend to be 'didactic and verbal', and examinations are generally 'based on memorization and affirmative modes rather than ways of thinking, attitudes and skills' (Gennaoui, 1995, p. 963). These are key weaknesses in schooling systems in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region (see Golladay et al., 1995; Khattab, 1996; Heyneman, 1997; the Human Development Network, 1999), which are often marked by an over-concern with selection, channeling and credentialing, rather than with the induction of learners into a culture of co-operative, critical and creative thinking. Syrian students tend to perform least well in those higher-order cognitive skills which are most sought after in modern economies, namely flexibility, judgment and problem-solving in new and unanticipated circumstances. Those most skilled at passive knowledge absorption and reproduction tend to be most rewarded (Golladay et al., 1995).

2001-01-01T00:00:00Z Hashweh, Maher Njoum, Ismail https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35768 2018-11-07T02:31:25Z 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: A case-based approach to education in Palestine Authors: Hashweh, Maher; Njoum, Ismail Abstract: This chapter describes an innovation that aimed to develop a case-based, problem-solving and multidisciplinary approach to teaching, and to explore and research the potential of the innovation in addressing some of the educational problems that are to be found in Palestine. Almawrid Teacher Development Center launched the innovation in September 1998. Two groups of Grade 9 teachers, one of which focused on a case-based approach to the teaching of democracy while the other focused on a casebased approach to the teaching of science, met under the leadership of a university educator on a weekly basis during the first semester of the school year to develop a shared understanding of the rationale and objectives of the innovation. Consequently, they collaborated in designing one case each for the teaching of democracy and science. The democracy group designed a case about the punishment of students in schools, and used it as an anchor for collaborative learning about citizenship, the rule of law, the separation of powers, the legislative process, accountability, and basic rights. The science group designed a case about bread, and used it as an anchor for inquiry and learning about the science and technology behind bread-making, about wheat, flour, food additives, and the nutritional value of bread, as well as about the relationship between bread and culture. The cases were designed to provide common grounds for students to explore and collaborate, to establish a community of learners, to allow students to notice changes in their knowledge and beliefs, and to connect the knowledge of science, technology, history, democracy, social science and other disciplines. During the second semester, each of the teachers taught the curriculum unit that had been planned, and started designing a new case-based unit. Concurrently, they continued to meet on a weekly basis to exchange experiences about teaching the cases during the preceding week and to jointly plan for the following week. This chapter starts by providing a background to the innovation, outlining its rationale and objectives. A description of the two units and of how they evolved, together with an account of the process of teacher development to date, follow this. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the results, and a consideration of the possible impact and implication of the innovation.

2001-01-01T00:00:00Z Frayha, Nemer https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35767 2018-11-07T02:30:53Z 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Curricular innovation in Lebanon : an uneasy experience Authors: Frayha, Nemer Abstract: During the 20th century, Lebanon experienced three types of educational systems: the Ottoman (till 1918), the French (till 1946), and the national one. During the Ottoman period (1516-1918), Lebanon had a relatively liberal educational system where Ottoman, Western missionary, and national schools were operating side by side. Thus, no central curriculum was implemented at that time. Rather, the Ottoman schools were teaching subjects in Turkish as well as Arabic, and their function hardly went beyond the literacy level. The missionary schools, which started to function in the 17th century, had a variety of curricula according to each mission's home of origin, while the local schools were mainly associated with a church or a mosque. Here the curriculum consisted of religious instruction and basic literacy. By the mid-18th century, schooling in Lebanon had taken a good step forward, with the missionaries enhancing the level and functions of their schools, and the local communities, especially the Maronites, following them. At the synod of Luwayza, held in 1736, the church recommended the establishment of tuition-free schools for male children (Salibi, 1965). The curriculum included reading and writing in Syriac and Arabic, grammar and syntax, music, and the church calendar. Successful students were promoted to study rhetoric, prosody, philosophy, arithmetic, surveying, astronomy, and other mathematical subjects. Textbooks were to be prepared in Syriac or Arabic by translating them from Latin by the graduates of the Maronite college in Rome, which had been established in 1584 (Salibi, 1965). The 19th century witnessed considerable progress in education, particularly with the opening of the American University of Beirut (A.U.B) and Saint Joseph University. The impact of higher education was evident in pre-university schooling where the number of schools increased and their educational performance improved. When we study some aspects of Lebanon' s educational system in the 20th century, we have to first focus on the impact of the French, and particularly on the influence ofthe French Mandate between 1920 and 1943. According to the terms of the Mandate, France was to bear the responsibility of developing public education. Between 1918 and 1923, the French did not introduce any new curricula, but simply abolished the Turkish language in the schools which taught it. Starting in 1923, the Haut Commissariat published an educational periodical, Le Bulletin de l'Enseignement, which contained the legislation, curricula, examination rules, teacher education materials, and statistics needed to put the new system into place. The French Mandate played an influential role in shaping Lebanon's education and patterned schooling after its own system. At the same time the French developed a curriculum for Lebanese schools similar, to a certain extent, to that of France (Fray ha, 1985). When Lebanon gained its independence, its government was faced with an urgent task: unifying the co-existing religious communities into a nation. It considered education as the best means to achieve this goal. A new curriculum was developed in 1946 making Arabic the language of instruction in most subjects and giving students the option of either French or English as a second language. The structure of this curriculum fitted the general rules for curriculum development, spelling out all the necessary elements such as rationale, aims, objectives, purposes, clear content, and evaluation. However, secondary education was designed to prepare a gifted group of the nation's young people to carry the major responsibilities of civil service and to specialize in the professional branches of higher education (Ministry of Education, 1946). This clearly violated the principle of equal opportunity for all students, especially when we know that only students who were good in a foreign language were able to make it through the secondary level and pass the official examination. This curriculum was revised in three phases between 1968 and 1971 when the government consecutively introduced the secondary curriculum in 1968, the intermediate curriculum in 1970, and the elementary one in 1971. These curricula failed to include aims and objectives for most subject matters or provide models for teaching methods. In general, they can be described as a step backward in Lebanon's educational system, when compared with those of 1946. Directly after the civil war, more than one attempt was made to revise the latest curricula. These however failed, given that there was no political support sustaining these efforts. In 1989, the Lebanese deputies who met in al-Taef, Saudi Arabia, came up with what is called the al-Taef Charter, which recommended that 'the curricula shall be reviewed and developed in a manner that strengthens national affiliation, unity, spiritual and cultural openness, and unification of history and civics textbooks.' One of the articles of this charter, which also came to be known as the National Reconciliation Accord, specifically emphasized the necessity of revising the curricula. After the approval of the National Accord by the elected parliament in 1992, the pressing issue of the state of national education was seriously considered. Thus, in 1994 the Lebanese government approved the' Plan for Educational Reform' which included the main outlines of the educational policy in post-war Lebanon. This was followed by the 'New Framework for Education in Lebanon' which called for changes at four levels of schooling, i.e. kindergarten, elementary, intermediate and secondary. These changes included the increase of the elementary stage to six years instead of five, divided into two cycles of three years each. Consequently, this decreased the intermediate level to three years instead of four but kept the official examination at the end of the third year or Grade 9. Regarding the secondary level, the span of time remained three years (Grades 10, 11 and 12, which are equivalent to the pt, 2nd and 3rd Secondary), but merged the first year which, under the old structure, had been divided into a literary and scientific branch. Under the new system, the second secondary (Grade 11) is divided into two routes, namely Sciences and Humanities, while the third secondary, which had included three kinds of Baccalaureates, has been restructured to have four, namely Literature and Humanities, Sociology and Economics, Life Sciences, and General Sciences (Ministry of Education-ECRD, 1995). The New Framework introduced new subjects to the curriculum. These included: - A second foreign language from Grade 7 to Grade 12, i.e. French for Anglophone schools and English for the Francophone ones.Computer or Informatics from Grade 7 to Grade 12. - Technology from Grade 4 to Grade 12. It is provided in the first cycle through fine arts subjects. - Sociology and Economics at the secondary level. - 'Scientific Education' (including Environment and Health Education, Technology and Physics) at the second and third secondary of the Humanities branch. - Philosophy and Civilizations at the second and third secondary. This Framework also revived other subjects which were included in the old curriculum but dropped from the school schedule. Those subjects are: Fine Arts, Physical Education and Civics. It is also worth mentioning that religious education was removed from the curriculum. Thus, the 'Plan for Educational Reform' and the 'New Framework for Education in Lebanon' established the principles and guidelines for the new curricula which formed the third step in the process of educational reform in Lebanon.

2001-01-01T00:00:00Z Hladnik, Mirjam M. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35766 2018-11-07T02:31:15Z 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Educational innovation and the panacea of school reform – the Slovenian case Authors: Hladnik, Mirjam M. Abstract: The most important current innovation in the Slovenian educational system is the reform of all the pre-university levels of schooling. Officially defined as 'school renewal', this wholesale reform is expected to bring about a series of innovations, some of which are so trenchant as to represent a radical departure from practices which had hitherto been current in the country. These changes have to be considered in two contexts, the educational one and the historical; in other words, the movement toward school renewal can only be understood in the context of the previous attempt at educational reform, and the current radical transition of Slovenian society. The last radical school reform was implemented in 1981. After the turmoil of the sixties many countries tried to solve the social unrest they experienced through the reform of their educational systems (Husen, 1985), and this is also true of Yugoslavia, of which Slovenia was then part. In 1974, the Yugoslav Communist Alliance Congress confirmed the political platform for educational reform in the whole country. There had been a long period of thorough surveys, comparative analyses and conceptualizing done by experts and well-known educators before the plan for that reform was tabled. The main and declared aim of the school reform was to make education more effective in responding to the needs of the country's economy, and also to ensure that it truly provided equal opportunities for all. In order to achieve the latter goal, the Gymnasiumand Matura-type schools were abolished, the curricula of all types of secondary schools were made alike or very similar, and entrance to university was no longer regulated through examinations. Indeed, all levels of education were to become equally accessible to all, irrespective of the level of schooling one had previously completed. The needs of the economy were moreover to be met through the design of instruction according to the demands of the productive sector, and through encouraging students to enter that sector as early as possible. This school reform provoked an unprecedented reaction in civil society. Teachers, academics, parents, students, journalists, joined hands in protesting against it in a very organized and clearly articulated manner. Needless to say, given the times we are referring to, such an opposition was also extremely brave, reflecting the determination to resist a reform which was condemned as obsolete and not at all in touch with a modern vision of education. Despite all the opposition, the reform was implemented, to the detriment of schools and a whole generation of teachers and pupils. One of the most crucial outcomes of the reform was, however, a very positive one. The long years of public dispute on the reform led, at the beginning of the 1980' s, to the right to voicing an opinion about public issues (Hladnik & Sustersic, 1986). The experience of the resistance movement against educational reform had provided a basis for empowerment, encouraging civil society to a degree which turned out to be crucial when the moment of transition came ten years later. Toward the end of the 1980' s, the notorious flaws of the educational changes introduced by the regime were gradually addressed in a process which was popularly called 'the reform ofthe reform': some Gymnasia were re-established and the curricula of secondary schools were diversified again. The most recent school reform inscribes itself in the legacy of this shift away from the 'destreaming' that had been introduced, to so much opposition, and with such little success. The historical context in which the current school reform is set refers to the so-called 'transitional period' of Slovenian society, a period in which four radical changes occurred. First, there was the secession from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the establishment of an independent Slovenian State on the force of a referendum in December 1990. For the first time in history, Slovenia was proclaimed a sovereign state in June 1991. Momentous changes were set into motion, with the transformation of a one-party political regime into a system of representative democracy, and the replacement of the state-run command economy by a liberal free market. In many respects, the transition of Slovenian society is marked by a radical thrust-it is not, however, a complete departure from the past, but rather the culmination of a much longer process of societal transformation that had gone on for a decade before. By the end of the 1980' s the political situation in the Yugoslav federation had deteriorated to such an extent that the course for the future of Slovenia and its two million inhabitants had slowly become increasingly clear: independence, democracy and membership in the European Union. That political vision had galvanized much of the population, making the process of transition less traumatic and troubled than it could have been, and than it has in fact been for many of its Balkan neighbors. The aspiration was for the Slovenian State to become a member of a 'civilized', democratic community of states, an equal member of the 'new integrated' Europe, completely detached from the Balkan region and its so-called historic problems. Democracy, human rights and civil freedoms would, it was hoped, bring Slovenia a prosperous future. Such a political vision had to be also vehicled by an educational system which reflected those same goals, and which therefore had to be shaped in the image of European-type schools in order to create democratic and efficient citizens. The break from the past through educational reform was signaled early on in the transition process, and indeed had already been announced in 1992. It is important to note, however, another reason behind the politics of school reform in Slovenia, and that was that it served to legitimize the new state and the new power elite, besides affirming the new political vision that had to be accomplished through the system of education.

2001-01-01T00:00:00Z