Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Muscat: Around 1,100 Omani students in seven universities in the Irbid area of Jordan have been asked to move to Amman due to harassment and personal security issues, a senior official in the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) in Oman has said.
MoHE recently issued a decision for Omani students to stop dealing with higher education institutions in Irbid, until further notice.
“The decision has been made after studying the situation in the area. The committee contacted the Omani Cultural Attache in Jordan and other authorities to have a better picture of the current status there.
“The decision was taken based on these discussions for the sake of the safety of the students, but it is only temporary and if we get good news, we will reverse the call,” Khadija Al Qurashi, deputy director, Qualification Equivalency and Recognition Department at MoHE was quoted saying on the Ministry’s e-magazine.
“Some of our students have been harassed and attacked, but there have been no major cases,” Al Qurashi added.
The seven Universities in Irbid include Yarmouk University, Jordan University of Science and Technology, the University of Jidara, Irbid National University, the University of Jerash, University of Al Albayt, and the Hashemite University.
Speaking to the Times of Oman, Al Qurashi said that there are 1,500 Omani students in Jordanian universities and out of those, 1,100 are studying in Irbid because of the large number of universities in the area and the low cost of expenses.
Irbid top choice
“Students prefer Irbid because of the low costs of living. A lot of times the Omani students study in Amman but live in Irbid because of their friends and other Omanis who reside in the area.”
She added that considering the current scenario, the Ministry doesn’t want any Omani in Irbid.
“We don’t want any Omani in Irbid because of the issue, so we are asking these students to move out to study in universities in Amman, as the Omani Cultural Attache is there, it will be easy for them to monitor the situation of the students closely.”
According to Al Qurashi, the universities in Irbid are absolutely perfect to study in, and have nothing to do with the problem and that lot of other Omanis have graduated from there.
“These universities have no issues, we equate and recognise their certificates, and it’s just about the situation in the area which is a cause of concern. The number of refugees is very high and they sometimes engage in fights and arguments which are at times interrupted by passers-by, who are sometimes Omanis,” she added.
She said that the ministry has cautioned Omanis in Irbid to take some precautionary measures and stay out of trouble.
“We have advised the Omanis to not wear the national dress and not to walk about at night, especially in the areas where they can invite trouble. We have also asked them to not be part of any arguments there, but sometimes they don’t adhere to the advice,” she said.
TOO also spoke to Ismail bin Abdullah Al Balushi, cultural attaché of Oman’s Embassy in Jordan, who said that the cause of the decision is “the repeated number of harassment cases which happened to Omani students in the area. There is a huge Omani student population there.”
“We are keeping in touch with the students, about any new cases. Some students went to courts as well.”
Graduation
According to Al Balushi, out of the 1,100 Omani students in Irbid, 50 per cent are graduating in the next two semesters and by next year the number of Omanis in Irbid universities is expected to move down to 300. The attaché is also providing students with some guidelines and precautionary measures.
Ahmed Al Mazrooi, Vice Chairman of the Omani students club in Jordan and a student at the University of Jerash, said that the club was working together with the Omanis in these universities to report any issues to the Omani Cultural Attache. There are 150 Omanis studying at Ahmed’s university.
“We have had some cases, with my friends, there have been thefts in apartments and ambushes on the streets, and it’s mainly because of the refugees living in the area, but we are working together with the students so we can report issues to attaché.”
He added that the situation in Irbid is not good, but it is getting better because the attaché has helped and cooperated with the students.
“The situation is not safe. Some buildings have good safety, but other places are dangerous, especially the ones with refugees in them. During the last few days we have seen that the security situation is getting better, thanks to the embassy’s efforts to protect Omani students.”
Ahmed partly blamed the Omani students for the cases, saying that some of them have not chosen the right place to live in.
“Students are also responsible, because they walk in dangerous areas at night and become prone to such abuses. According to what I know, nobody has left and gone back to Oman.”
“Some unemployed refugees steal mobile phones and money from students. The last such case happened two months ago.”
Al Balushi recently told a Jordanian newspaper that the decision was not taken based on the “security situation”, but was linked with numerous acts of harassment suffered by the Omani students at the universities.
Cooperation
In the newspaper report, Al Balushi also praised the cooperation shown by the Jordanian authorities to protect the Omani students with all the problems they face, pointing that these are individual incidents and not related to any organisation and are done outside the walls of the universities, stressing the excellent relations between the two countries.
For those wishing to attend school in Jordan in the future, Al Balushi said that their parents need to visit MoHE for the latest developments, and learn about institutions which are good to enrol in along with other details.
