All stories from the Jordan Times unless specified otherwise.
Cabinet reviews deputies'
demands from budget debate
Mideast
journalists to get 'a taste of quality reporting ' through
Jemstone project in '98
Police find getaway cars
used by hitmen, lift fingerprints
Airline awaits
permission from U.N. to fly Iraqi pilgrims to Mecca
Jordanian
universities should make practical proposals to help develop
Kingdom's regions - Crown Prince
Princess Basma
inspects conditions in Shobak as part of charity campaign
WHO's top job shortlist knocks
out Jordan candidate
Japan, UJ Hospital sign
agreement for medical equipment
Issue of violence
in schools leads to examinations of societal causes
Cabinet reviews
deputies' demands from budget debate
AMMAN (J.T.) - The Council of Ministers on Tuesday discussed
demands and requests made by Parliament members during their
debate on the 1998 state budget, which ended Monday evening.
Speaking after the Cabinet session, Minister of State for
Information Affairs Samir Mutawi said the government is preparing
a list of these demands to be referred to the concerned
ministries and departments for possible implementation.
The deputies concluded a five-day debate on the JD1.95 billion
draft budget by approving it by a vote of 59 to 15.
The demands made by the deputies included improving services and
dealing with corruption and the problems of unemployment and
poverty.
Dr. Mutawi said the Cabinet approved of the creation of a
Jordanian-Algerian joint committee with a five-year mandate to
lay down the legal framework for developing and expanding
bilateral cooperation in economic, trade, cultural, technical and
scientific fields.
The annual meetings of the committee, which will be co-chaired by
a minister from each side, will alternate between Amman and
Algiers, the minister stated.
He added that the Cabinet also endorsed an agreement between the
Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications and a number of
local, Arab, and foreign companies to conduct fast mail services
between Jordan and the rest of the world.
Mideast journalists
to get 'a taste of quality reporting ' through Jemstone project
in '98
By Ghalia Alul
AMMAN - Journalists from 12 countries in the Eastern
Mediterranean basin are poised to get a taste of quality
reporting in 1998 through the biggest media network in the area
that was recently relaunched by the European Union (EU).
The Amman-based Jemstone project, created through the Union's Med
Media programme, has prepared a list of ambitious activities for
this year, ranging from specialist reporting workshops to
training media managers.
It wants to support and encourage independent, high quality
reporting in all branches of the region's media, according to
Project Director, Tudor Lomas.
Through its many activities, Jemstone seeks to increase contacts
and understanding between journalists and media professionals in
Europe and the 12 countries of North Africa and the Eastern
Mediterranean.
This month, 14 journalists will take part in Jemstone's Internet
workshop aimed at providing reporters with the opportunity to
share "practical self-taught experience" on cyberspace,
Mr. Lomas told the Jordan Times Monday.
"Quite a few people in the media use and understand the
potential of the Internet... Through this workshop, journalists
will learn from their colleagues' experiences," he said.
The workshop is organised in cooperation with OneWorld Online and
IDEAL Training Centre (IDEAL Group.)
In February, Jemstone will bring together about 25 seasoned
Eastern Mediterranean business and economic journalists in Amman
to tackle obstacles impeding business, economic and financial
reporting in the region. The workshop will also try to find ways
to improve the quality of economic and business reporting.
The week-long workshop, run jointly with the World Bank's
Economic Development Institute (EDI), will also discuss local and
regional implications of international economic integration, said
Mr. Lomas.
He said that the workshop will include a visit to some projects
in Aqaba, such as the joint Jordanian-Israeli airport.
Journalists will also meet with some officials in Aqaba to
discuss future projects including plans for a
multi-million-dollar free zone in Aqaba and other tourism
projects.
Jemstone has been frequently criticised for focusing much of its
activities on economic journalists, said Mr. Lomas.
"But this focus is no accident. Economic journalism is
worthless unless it is accurate, objective, well researched and
clearly written. Nobody is going to make decisions based on
wishful thinking or popular half-truths. What is needed are hard,
carefully-checked, fully understood facts from reliable
sources."
Senior journalists will try to produce an ambitious style guide
book for Arabic speaking publications through another Jemstone
workshop scheduled to be held in Damascus by the end of February,
according to Mr. Lomas.
He said that another specialised workshop for environment
reporters is scheduled to be held on South Sinai in March in
cooperation with the Egypt National Parks.
To guarantee a successful future for all kinds of media, Mr.
Lomas said, Jemstone planned an "Audience/Readership
Research" workshop in March with the aim of helping
journalists get a firm idea of the actual needs of the public.
This workshop will "tie organisations to their public...to
try and provide people with what they want from the media,"
Mr. Lomas said.
Prompted by the need to ensure that journalists get proper
training, Jemstone scheduled a training programme for heads of
departments, who would later help train other journalists, Mr.
Lomas said.
The three-week workshop will bring together about 15 training
managers in Hilversum, the Netherlands, in April, to be followed
up by a workshop in Cairo in June.
To create professional educational reporters in the Eastern
Mediterranean region, Jemstone planned a "Specialist
Education Reporters" workshop in partnership with the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Turkey in May.
"Education reporters don't exist.. Good things are happening
around in many countries and this experience should be passed on
as the quality of education determines the future for many
individuals," Mr. Lomas stressed, adding that in the future,
exchange visits will be funded to give education reporters the
opportunity to visit and learn from other countries' experiences.
Skilled news photographers will participate in a June workshop in
Gaza, and about 15 specialist media reporters are scheduled to
take part in another workshop in Beirut in July, according to Mr.
Lomas.
In August, Jemstone will organise a three-week workshop on
journalism skills gathering about 30 "committed young
journalists from radio and television to develop their
journalistic skills and abilities, and explore new ideas."
In September, about 15 senior newspaper managers will take part
in a workshop in Brussels to evaluate the network's activities,
reinstate their needs and help reshape Jemstone's future
priorities, plans and structure, said Mr. Lomas.
He added that a round table conference that will look at the
future of journalists will be held in Amman or Cairo in October.
"Unless Journalism is defended, it will disappear and will
be replaced with propaganda and commercial pressure," said
Mr. Lomas.
Jemstone links over 50 of the main newspapers, news agencies and
broadcasters in these countries as well as over 350 of the
region's best journalists.
"We are actively looking for more partners to share the cost
with us," said Mr. Lomas.
The EU's Med Media programme, launched in late 1993, was
suspended in December 1995. But Jemstone and its sister
programme, Remfoc in the Maghreb, continued to operate with
special EU funding.
Police find
getaway cars used by hitmen, lift fingerprints
By Tareq Ayyoub
AMMAN - Police have found two getaway cars that were used by the
assailants who killed six Iraqis, including the Iraqi deputy
chief of mission, Hikmat Hajo, in Amman on Saturday night, the
government announced Tuesday.
Minister of State for Information Affairs Samir Mutawi told
reporters following a regular Cabinet session that one of the two
cars belonged to Hajo.
Dr. Mutawi said that the first car was found in the Umm Utheina
neighbourhood while the other vehicle was located in Jabal Al
Hussein.
"Security forces are confident that the details of the crime
will be completed within a very short period of time," the
minister said.
Security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said
that fingerprints were taken from the two cars to compare them
with other fingerprints found at the murder scene.
Six Iraqis, including businessmen Sami George and Namir Ochi, and
two Egyptians were stabbed to death in a villa in the Al Rabia
neighbourhood of Amman on Saturday by four to five assassins, the
only survivor, a Greek woman named Anastasia Lidaki, told the
police.
Informed security sources said that Ms. Lidaki has also testified
that one of the five assailants was called Hussein.
Two senior Iraqi officials arrived in Amman on Monday to follow
up on investigations in the attack, the second against Iraqi
diplomats in less than three weeks.
Sa'ad Al Faisal, under-secretary of Iraq's foreign ministry and
General Tahir Haboush, the director of Iraqi police, were briefed
by Jordanian officials on the outcome of the investigations, Dr.
Mutawi said.
"Prime Minister [Abdul Salam Majali] has promised Iraqi
officials that Jordan will pass all the investigation's results
to them," the minister said.
Dr. Majali made the promise during a condolence visit to the
Iraqi ambassador on Monday night.
The minister said that Jordan will not allow Iraqi security
officials to take part in the investigations.
"The crime was committed on Jordanian soil and the
investigations will be carried out by Jordanian security
officials," he added.
Meanwhile, Minister of Interior Nathir Rashid told the Jordan
Times that there were no suspects so far, but said that he
expected the investigations will be completed within the coming
few days.
"I cannot comment on any rumour before the investigations
are over but the only fact I can confirm is that the crime has no
political motives," Mr. Rashid said.
Mr. Rashid said that Ms. Lidaki told investigators that the
slaying of eight was carried out by four to five men with Iraqi
accent.
The minister said that Ms. Lidaki's testimony "will help in
unveiling the identity" of the killers.
A neighbour of Mr. George told the Jordan Times that Ms. Lidaki
was working as a cook for the deceased.
Security officials said they interrogated several Iraqis in the
past few days but no one was detained.
Director of Forensic Medicine at the Police Department Moumin Al
Hadid said that his department carried out autopsies on the eight
victims and a report was sent to the head of the team that
investigates the crime, Brigadier Hisham Nsour.
However, Dr. Hadid said that he believed "the stabbing was
carried out by professional murderers."
He said the victims were brutally stabbed and that each victim
received more than ten stabs in different parts of their bodies.
Nazmi Ochi, a brother of Namir Ochi who was killed in the attack,
denied news reports that he and his brother were doing business
with the Iraqi government.
"We have nothing to do with the Iraqi government. We stopped
doing business with Baghdad since 1989," said Mr. Ochi.
He said he met Mr. George only one time in Amman, through mutual
friends.
"I do not know who is behind the murder and I have told the
investigators all what I know," Mr. Ochi told the Jordan
Times.
He said that during the seven-year-old U.N. sanctions, he sent a
number of consignments of humanitarian aid, consisting of milk
and medicine, to Iraq and that he received nothing in return from
the Iraqi government.
"It was merely a humanitarian help to our people."
Mr. Ochi, who is a British citizen, runs worldwide investments,
worth $1.2 billion, in the medicine and food industries, a sugar
factory, a fleet of twelve planes and several financial
institutions.
Mr. Ochi said his bother, who was married to a Lebanese woman,
lived and worked in Lebanon for the past several years.
He said that another brother, Nasser, was executed by the Iraqi
government in 1986 after he was convicted of attempting to bribe
officials.
He said that the his slain brother, Namir, was staying at the
house of Mr. George, "with whom he used to stay when he
visits Jordan."
The bodies of the Iraqi diplomat and his wife will be driven back
home on Wednesday after an official ceremony, with the convoy
starting-off from the residence of the Iraqi Ambassador Nouri
Lweiss in Jabal Amman.
Airline awaits
permission from U.N. to fly Iraqi pilgrims to Mecca
AMMAN (J.T.) - The Jordanian government is awaiting a reply from
the U.N. Sanctions Committee to its request to transport Iraqi
pilgrims from Baghdad to Saudi Arabia to perform this year's
pilgrimage to Mecca.
An official from Royal Jordanian (RJ), the national air carrier,
told the Jordan Times that RJ planes are ready to arrange
chartered flights from Amman to Baghdad and Saudi Arabia, but
permission from the U.N. committee is needed before the flights
can go ahead.
RJ expects to receive a reply within a week at most, he said,
adding that Jordan has applied for permission to transport the
pilgrims for the past seven years, since Iraq can not make use of
its national airline due to the sanctions, but has not received a
favourable response yet.
According to the official, RJ is also awaiting the arrival of a
delegation representing the Iranian airlines to conduct studies
with RJ officials and the Civil Aviation Authority on resuming
flights between Amman and Tehran.
The flights between the two sides were disrupted during the
eight-year Iran-Iraq Gulf War.
Meanwhile, Royal Wings, a subsidiary of RJ, has received a new
Bombardier Dash 50-seat plane from Canada to boost its operations
and increase its flights, mainly to Near East destinations.
The plane, which arrived at Marka airport Monday, was received by
HRH Prince Faisal Ben Al Hussein and Royal Wings Director General
Ahed Quntar.
The plane, the second of its kind in the Royal Wings air fleet,
will be used to enable the airline to make three daily flights
between Amman and Aqaba instead of the current two, and eight
weekly fights between Amman and Tel Aviv, up from the three at
present.
According to Mr. Quntar, Royal Wings is planning chartered
flights between Aqaba and Sharm Al Sheikh and Luxor in Egypt next
month and regular direct flights between Amman and Larnaca in
Cyprus.
Royal Wings last year made net profits totalling $95,000 with
only one operating plane, Mr. Quntar said. He added that the
airline is in need of a third plane in order to organise direct
and regular flights between Amman and Gaza and Cairo.
Royal Wings, which was established in March 1996, is designed to
carry out medium-range flights within the Near East, leaving the
long-distance flights to RJ.
Jordanian
universities should make practical proposals
to help develop Kingdom's regions - Crown Prince
AMMAN (Petra) - His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hassan has called
on Jordanian universities to come up with practical proposals
that would contribute to the development of the Kingdom's
northern, central and southern regions.
Universities ought to work out proposals and ideas for their
respective regions first, but should do so within the framework
of the overall national strategy for economic and social
development, the Crown Prince said.
The Crown Prince was addressing presidents of Jordanian
universities and faculty members, a task force entrusted with
developing Jordan's higher education system, and members of the
consultative council at Mu'ta University, following an iftar
banquet he hosted in their honour on Monday.
He said that Jordan is in need of plans for its three regions,
stressing that coordination and integration were basic and
essential elements in such plans. He said that the trend in
advanced societies is for universities to assume new roles by
getting involved more and more in research activities and
production.
Prince Hassan thanked the task force for preparing a draft plan
for developing higher education in the coming five years,
stressing that competition in a global economy relies on
efficiency and high quality.
Universities are being called on, more than at any other time in
the past, to resume their role in taking the initiative and
re-adjusting their methods so as to respond to the future needs
of global education and distance education through the Internet,
Prince Hassan said.
He stressed that the future universities will have no borders but
the expanse created by the world computer networks, and that
students will be the world population at large and textbooks the
laser disks. He asked whether Jordanian universities had prepared
themselves for such developments.
"In asking for change in the universities' mission and role
I would like to point out that this change presented itself as
the natural result of the changes in the universities' work at
the regional and global levels and not because the traditional
universities' missions have failed to achieve their objectives
," Prince Hassan added.
Prince Hassan lauded Muta University's role in serving the local
community in the south and for establishing a centre for studies
of the southern regions.
He pointed to the need for comprehensive studies on the local
community level and for strategic planning to deal with problems
before they crop up emphasising the need for change and for
adopting total qualitative management (TQM).
The Prince reviewed the number of students enrolled in the
universities in the past two years, noting that those enrolled in
humanities totalled l9,349 and those in trade and business
administration, l7,089. He said those enrolled in engineering
were relatively few, numbering 982. However, the number of those
enrolling in areas considered very important for Jordan is not
encouraging, he said, citing agriculture students, who were
3,343.
Prince Hassan called on the universities to study and grasp the
role of informatics and information technology in education and
to adopt convincing methods based on information and data and
free of the sense of the ego and selfishness.
"Our sole option lies in building a national economy capable
of competing in world markets and adjusting to local and
international developments," Prince Hassan stressed. He said
among the primary requirements in this respect "is to base
our economic policies on continuous interaction and dialogue and
to build from the base, gradually rising to the top."
He emphasised the importance of planning and drawing up a
national strategy enabling Jordan to absorb economic and social
changes resulting from the information revolution.
Prince Hassan said the task force should embark on preparing
plans taking into consideration three dimensions - natural
resources, economic resources and human resources - so that a
comprehensive plan be complete in order to help improve the
quality of the people's life.
Prince Hassan said investment in education and vocational
training builds manpower capital. "Perhaps one of the major
challenges that will face us in the future lies in how to benefit
from this investment and how to increase production and attain
efficiency in management," he said.
Prince Hassan stressed that ideal investment lies in
concentrating on the quality of the graduates and in adjusting
university programmes to the requirements of the labour market.
He recalled the many visits he made to Jordanian students in
different universities around the world and their desire to be
affiliated with Jordanian universities in order to learn about
their country's requirements so that they can adjust their
training towards serving the Kingdom.
Prince Hassan urged the universities to achieve qualitative leaps
forward by transforming themselves from pure empirical teaching
institutions into scientific projects.
He also urged the universities to recruit and train cadres that
can achieve this transformation and deal with modern technology.
He asked them to adopt methods of training Jordanians in dealing
with information technology, stressing that this can only be
achieved by "freeing ourselves from the concept of the
universities' traditional message."
"Sustainable education strategies, life long learning,
self-education and distance education can help us promote
information technology and train individuals in their use,"
he said.
He called on the task force to hold periodical meetings at
state-run universities to discuss and follow up on the important
subjects that were discussed at the Muta University meeting.
The Crown Prince underlined the importance of research
methodology and preparation. University students and teachers for
work by learning about value systems on which these priorities
are based.
He said that people shouldering responsibility should be armed
with ethics and should have positive attitudes towards objective
work methodologies.
Princess Basma
inspects conditions in Shobak as part of charity campaign
SHOBAK (Petra) - In the course of the charity campaign conducted
by the Queen Alia Fund for Social Development (QAF) during the
month of Ramadan, HRH Princess Basma visited villages in the
Shobak district in southern Jordan to inspect conditions of local
residents as the campaign to raise funds for the needy continued.
The Princess first called at the Zubeirieh cluster of villages,
where she witnessed the commencement of work by a mobile clinic
and the start of a collective agricultural production project.
She heard a briefing by a team of health workers on the services
and the areas the clinic covers, as well as plans for the coming
months.
The clinic is part of QAF's activities, which include the
creation of six clinics in the governorates of Irbid, Mafraq,
Sahab, Ma'an, Aqaba, and Ghor Safi.
The QAF said the mobile clinic in the southern villages will
provide integrated services, ranging from vaccinations to dental
treatment, free of charge.
The clinic will be moving on a rotating basis to the villages of
Rum, Disi, Rashadieh, Queira, Hamimeh, and Hanout for two days
for each.
While at Zubeirieh village, Princess Basma planted an apple tree
sapling on a 10-dunum plot of land, marking the beginning of a
project for planting apple and other fruit trees that will
subsequently provide for 10 local families working under QAF
supervision.
The Princess met the committee responsible for the local social
development centre to hear details about the centre's activities.
While there, she announced her donation to finance the creation
of a dairy production factory to function under the committee's
supervision.
Princess Basma attended a ceremony to honour 80 local citizens,
mainly members of youth clubs, who have been active in the
Ramadan Charity Campaign and who have participated in the
distribution of aid to needy families.
QAF volunteers have presented gifts of food and other aid to 160
local families and equipment to 49 local families to start
businesses.
Accompanying Princess Basma on the tour were QAF Higher Committee
Chairperson Mamdouh Abbadi and several committee members.
The campaign, which ends at the end of the month of Ramadan, aims
at helping the needy, the disabled, students of poor families,
and able-bodied unemployed heads of families.
WHO's top job
shortlist knocks out Jordan candidate
GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organisation's (WHO) executive
committee Tuesday handed in a shortlist of five candidates aiming
to replace Japanese Director General Hiroshi Nakajima who steps
down in July.
In a secret vote, the 32-member committee eliminated the name of
former Health Minister Aref Bataineh. Under WHO rules, a vote
must be held if there are more than five candidates in the race,
and Dr. Bataineh culled the fewest votes.
Norway's former prime minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland, is the
odds-on favourite for the WHO's top job although another woman,
Pakistan's head of the U.N. Population Fund Nafis Sadik is also
said to be a close contender.
The three other competitors for the job, which is for a five-year
term, are the WHO's director for southeast Asia, Indonesia's Uton
Muchtar Rafei, director general for Africa, Ebrahim Malick Samba
and director of the Pan-American Health Organisation, George
Alleyne from Barbados.
On Monday, the committee will interview each candidate and the
following day will select the winner by secret ballot.
The WHO's 191-member general assembly will confirm the decision
when it meets in May.
Sixty-eight-year-old Nakajima, whose 10-year tenure was often
marked by controversy, announced in mid-1997 that he would not
stand for re-election.
Japan, UJ
Hospital sign agreement for medical equipment
AMMAN (J.T.) - The University of Jordan on Tuesday signed an
agreement with the Japanese government, under which Japan will
donate medical equipment to the university's various sections and
units.
The donated equipment will cover the X-ray, open-heart surgery,
burns, and children's intensive care units, as well as the
operations theatre.
Japan will also donate equipment to the gynaecology,
physiotherapy, orthopaedic, and urinary tract surgery units.
Signing the agreement were Mr. Miakwa from the Japanese Foreign
Ministry, University of Jordan Hospital Director General Mahmoud
Abu Khalaf, and Nae'l Hajjaj, assistant director of the bilateral
cooperation department at the Ministry of Planning.
Attending the signing ceremony were several Japanese officials
and senior University of Jordan officials.
Issue of violence
in schools leads to examinations of societal causes
By Munther Murjan
AMMAN - A recent attack on a teacher by a group of students in
the Jordan Valley has stirred a national debate on growing
violence across the Kingdom's private and public schools.
A mob of youngsters beat up a teacher at a state-run school in
South Shunneh in November to take revenge on him for reprimanding
their colleague, forcing the Ministry of Education to close the
institute for several days until tempers cooled.
Weeks later, several nation-wide seminars were held to try and
shed more light on violence in society in general and at schools
in particular.
"Violence in Jordanian schools has increased over the years,
especially in the past ten years," Mahmoud Massad, director
general of education at the Ministry of Education, told the
Jordan Times in a recent interview.
Among the chief causes linked to soaring violence were
"greater [socio-economic] openness, a third wave of
immigration [Jordanians forced to leave Kuwait because of the
1990 Gulf crisis], and the introduction of a new education
development program," he added.
Sociologists believe increasing poverty and unemployment, daily
scenes of violence broadcast on television, and family problems
caused by a change in traditions and customs have contributed to
more violence.
Lack of cooperation between parents and schools, broken families,
the "wrong upbringing," negative stereotyping by
fathers, and the students' feeling of deprivation and frustration
help feed school violence.
"Frankly, I have seen some of the teachers deal with
students, and some of them should not be let anywhere near the
children," sociologist Musa Shteiwi told the Jordan Times.
"Lack of proper counselling in today's schools can also be
one of the reasons for violence, [since] children have problems
with their identities, sexuality, etc.," he said.
Some 1.5 million of Jordan's 4.2 million population attend public
and private schools, but only 34 per cent of schools have
educational counsellors.
According to a 1995 study of 780 teachers and student counsellors
by the Ministry of Education, trouble-making and loud screaming
ranked first in violent behavioural patterns among students,
followed by vandalism and attacks on school property, fighting
and severe beatings.
Dr. Massad said a recently-introduced educational method that
encourages mutual respect, democratic practices and greater
openness in dealings between students and teachers have changed
the traditional role of each party and sometimes encouraged
violent reactions.
"This produced a shock...as both the roles of teachers and
students were altered," he explained. "The student who
had to sit, listen, and answer only when asked is now a
participant, while the teacher, who used to control students and
explain the lesson without interruption, is now a learning
facilitator who should allow the student to initiate
communication."
Some students had other reasons behind outbreaks of violence at
schools. One student complained that some teachers often abuse
their power.
"Many of them are too arrogant. They try to suppress you and
think they have the powers given to God," student Ahmad
Salem, 16, told the Jordan Times.
In one incident, two groups of youths engaged in a brawl because
the teacher tried to brush aside their feud, he said.
"One of my friends ended up with his front teeth
broken," he added.
Jordan's democratisation process, launched in 1989, cast a shadow
over schools and universities by giving students new privileges
such as freedom of expression and the right to form unions to
express their views - for years a taboo.
"These various factors have led to friction between the
teacher and the student, the student and his colleague and in
some cases, between teachers and teachers," Dr. Massad said.
"Teacher themselves need to be educated in modern methods of
education," Dr. Shteiwi said. "The more you approach
new methods in education, the less dependent you are on methods
leading to violence."
According to the study, more violence was recorded in schools in
Amman, Mafraq, Tafilah and Irbid, locales where most teachers
belonged to the old school of thought. Schools often use double
shifts to accommodate the thousands of students in these teeming
areas.
"Teachers in Amman and Zarqa have spent a considerable
period following the old system and find it difficult to accept
the new student freedoms," Dr. Massad said.
Lower rates of violence were recorded in Madaba, Jerash and
Aqaba, where younger teachers have been recruited.
"Most of the new teachers are more capable of adapting and
applying the new educational system," Dr. Massad said.
However, in many cases, trouble brewed because teachers and
schoolmasters had to improvise to deal with certain situations
instead of following the school's disciplinary protocol, which
stipulates punishments such as transferring students to other
schools or expelling them.
"Violence breeds violence," Dr. Massad said.
"Normally, teachers should apply the 'school disciplinary
system' to deal with abnormal behaviour on the part of
students," Dr. Massad said. " But sometimes, a teacher
or a school administrator decides to use a form of violence such
as harsh words or various degrees of physical violence as a means
of punishment."
"And when you ask them why they did not follow the protocol,
their answer is: 'We did so to save the student from becoming a
drop-out [which would happen] if we moved him to another
school," he said.
Dr. Massad said physical violence was more common in male schools
while verbal abuse was more dominant in female schools.
Dr. Shteiwi said traditions in the male-dominated society
encouraged macho behaviour.
"Violence exists in both sexes," he told the Jordan
Times. "But males are more violent because of their roles in
society and because the issue of power and pride is implanted in
males, who are also taught that they are more of doers than
females," he said.
"We teach males to be aggressive and assertive while we
teach females to be more subservient, though this is changing
now," he added.