Amman - Prime Minister Omar Razzaz approved establishing a government team headed by the Minister of State for Media Affairs and Government spokesperson, Jumana Ghunaimat, to follow up on the implementation of the Media and Information Literacy project, which the government vowed to include within the framework of its national strategy for the years 2019-2020.
In her statement to Jordan News Agency (Petra), Ghunaimat said that the team will include representatives from various civil society institutions as well as universities and local schools; such as the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) and UNESCO. Such institutions will be utilizing their expertise in this field as the government aims to ensure continuous communication with all partners on issues revolving around empowering youth’s national knowledge and active citizenship.
In response to the widespread use of communication, social media and digital journalism outlets among citizens, the government has committed in its 2019-2020 plan of priorities, which was announced by the Prime Minister in November 2018, to integrate the "Media and Information Literacy" project within its national strategy in order to educate the public on subjects related to media and information which will result in strengthening the national knowledge and in boosting the status of active citizenship.
The government is committed through this framework to share the concepts of Media and Information Literacy to develop a basic set of skills, especially those that include the development of critical thinking and the process needed to attain information from credible sources in order to build a society that respects diversity, human rights and open dialogue.
Based on the plan of priorities, concepts of Media and Information Literacy will be included as part of the schools' curricula; within the “National and Social Sciences” subject for the seventh and eighth grades, and the “Computer Sciences” subject for the tenth grade, in addition to conducting specialized trainings and workshops about the same topic. Furthermore, the concepts of “Media Literacy” will be taught in universities through mandatory and elective courses.
Preparation courses will also be provided to 100 university professors on “Media and Information Literacy” as well as “Training of Trainers” courses that will target a group of teachers from various directorates and governorates.