Jordan

Generally, primary and intermediate school teachers are trained in the community colleges and secondary school teachers in universities.

With the dramatic increase in enrollment, there has been an increased demand for teachers. In 1953 there were fewer than 5,000 teachers, while at the beginning of the 1980s there were almost 30,000. After the Gulf War in 1990, many of the Jordanians who had been working in Kuwait and other Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain, were dismissed from their jobs and returned to Jordan. In a couple of years the need for teachers was dramatically increased, and it is estimated that the number of teachers in 1992-93 was approximately 55,000.

In order to improve the teaching profession through upgrading teachers' qualifications, Act 3 of 1994 stipulated that every teacher, in any stage from kindergarten to the secondary cycle, must have a university degree. Their supervisors must hold a postgraduate degree.

In 1997, a total of 69.50 percent of teachers had a community college degree, 26 percent had a bachelor's degree, and 3.6 percent had more than a bachelor's degree. The MOE encourages teachers who already have their bachelor's degree to enroll in graduate studies. In 1997, the MOE funded 759 teachers to get their bachelor's degree, 423 to get their diploma, and 75 to get their master's degree. The General Directorate of Training in the MOE is responsible for planning these programs in cooperation with educational experts and international and regional organizations.

Teachers are selected for the job through competitive selection and on the basis of need, specialization, year of graduation, GPA, living place, and experience. Although there are general criteria for employment, a quota is given to some categories, such as orphans of fathers who served in the Jordanian army, poor families, and handicapped teachers who hold an academic qualification. Generally speaking, promotion takes place after passing five years in a grade, class, or category. It is possible to be promoted earlier with a higher academic degree or a distinctive performance.

Teachers' workload (average number of weekly periods allocated to classroom teaching) depends upon where in the educational cycle they teach. Generally, for example, teachers at vocational schools teach more periods than teachers at secondary schools.

Salaries are determined according to Civil Service Regulation No. 1 of 1988 and the Unified Allowance Regulation No. 23 of 1988. Salaries are classified according to academic qualifications, category, grade, and nature of work.