http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1236764159599&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Israeli Arabs look increasingly to Jordan for studies

Mar. 11, 2009
brenda gazzar , THE JERUSALEM POST 
More than 5,000 Israeli Arabs are studying at Jordanian colleges and 
universities - a massive increase from just 100 in 1998, a new study has found. 

Today, Arab students in higher education in Israel number about 10,000 and make 
up about nine percent of the total student population. 

The dramatic increase over the last decade is due to a number of factors, 
including easier admission requirements in Jordan, a lack of age requirements 
for acceptance, availability and a similar cultural and linguistic environment, 
according to the study initiated and sponsored by the Nazareth-based Dirasat: 
The Arab Center for Law and Policy. 

"Many of the students who study in Jordan say their first priority is to study 
in Israel, but they had to be in Jordan because of the obstacles they face at 
Israeli universities," said Yousef Jabareen, director of Dirasat. "We need to 
see how to overcome these obstacles so students can fulfill their higher 
education in Israel." 

Today there are 5,400 Israel Arabs studying in Jordan, an increase from 1,654 
in 2004-2005 and from 2,155 in 2005-2006, said Khaled Arar, a professor at Beit 
Berl Academic College and a co-author of the study. About 30% of these students 
are female. 

Jordanian universities and colleges received about $84.6 million last year from 
Arab-Israeli students alone, Arar said. 

The majority of Israelis studying in Jordan are studying pharmacy, medicine and 
paramedical fields, such as speech therapy and physiotherapy, he added. 

In 2007-2008, 932 students from Israel studied at the University of Science and 
Technology of Jordan, compared to 673 students in the 2005-2006 academic year. 
Al-Ahliyya Amman University boasts about 1,700 Israeli Arabs today, Arar said. 

Activists say that Israel's psychometric exam and entrance interviews, as well 
as age requirements for certain university programs, pose unique challenges for 
Arab students. 

Arab students, for example, perform significantly lower on average on their 
psychometric exams, which are calculated along with a student's grade point 
average to determine eligibility for admission to a university program. Since 
1991, Arabs on average have earned a score of about 110 points less (out of 
800) than their Jewish counterparts, according to a 2008 Dirasat study. 

Activists argue that this gap is the result of an exam that is culturally 
biased. 

In addition, most universities require students to be at least 19 or 20 to 
enroll in departments such as social work, nursing, communication disorders, 
occupational therapy, physical therapy and medicine. 

While universities say the policy aims to ensure that students are at an 
appropriate maturity level for programs that usually require patient 
interaction, Jabareen and other activists say it disproportionately affects 
Arabs since the vast majority do not join the military at age 18. 

Arar says that affirmative action policies or the creation of an Arab 
university in Israel might alleviate the desire of Arab Israelis to study 
outside the country. 

"We are afraid that studying in Jordan doesn't prepare them adequately for real 
life challenges in Israel when they come back," Jabareen added. "Studying in 
Israeli universities would be a better option for them and they would be more 
ready for the Israeli market."

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