Incumbent Prime Minister and former Minister of Education, Omar Razzaz, expressed his well-wishes to Tawjihi students through his twitter account late on Thursday.

“My sons and daughters, and their families, our hearts are with you next Saturday. I have high confidence in my brother, the minister of education, and the entire team of the ministry.”

His words came two days before Jordan’s summer session of the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination, or Tawjihi kicks off on Saturday.

A total of 145,905 students students will take the examinations, of whom 87,378 are enrolled in schools while the rest are private candidates. .The exams will be split into two sessions: the first at 10 a.m. and the second at 12:30 p.m.

The national exam will be held in 1,363 halls in 474 schools across the Kingdom, under the supervision of 19,000 teachers. Additionally, 16,500 teachers will be tasked to correct the exam papers in 87 locations.

The ministry urged students to commit to the exams’ regulations, which include bringing a valid ID card and not bringing mobile phones, electronic pens or any recording devices into the exam room.

The ministry also called on students not to worry unduly about difficult exams, stressing that questions were prepared with consideration of students’ various capabilities.

Ministry Spokesperson, Walid Jallad, announced in an earlier statement that an operations room was established to follow up on the exams.

He asserted that students and parents can call the centre with any enquiries on: 0775388000, 0797349936, 0777710700, 0777222151, 0796757671, 0777713362 or 0796795968; or through the Facebook and Twitter.

Next academic year, students are set to take eight instead of nine subjects, where two out of the three elective subjects will be counted in the final average; a change that was welcomed by students and families.

Another change that has sparked debate involves replacing the two exam sessions per year with one starting 2018-2019.

Read more: Tawjihi students to take eight subjects