Written By: F. Kay

As Tawjihi students started the school year, the holy month of Ramadan began, and ironically, summer’s high temperatures continued to climb.

As if studying and concentrating was not enough for Tawjihi students, they are now forced to do it while fasting and melting with this summer’s awfully high temperatures. The unbearable heat has been affecting the students’ capability to receive information from teachers, with most schools being unable to buy fans. Some schools do have fans but cannot use them due to overpriced electricity bills, and those who do make use of them have to bear their buzzing, which results in the worst headache.

Meanwhile, not being able to drink water or have a Panadol pill, Tawjihi students are trying their best to study and compete to achieve high averages in both school and Ministry of Education exams. With the average time for studying in normal school weeks varying between 50 to 70 hours, this decreases to 40 hours or less during Ramadan due to exhaustion and fatigue. Moreover, with the high price of the “mwazi” stream in Jordanian universities, tawjihi students are trying their best to achieve high scores to let their parents’ wallets ache a bit less next year.

So dear Ministry of Education: think of your students; your Tawjihi students. We are suffering from fatigue and can barely sleep without dreaming of books and studying. Please think of us and make us feel better. Try to eliminate those big stuffed books and trade them in with more nutritious yet knowledgeably-entertaining books.