The idea of the El-Hassan Youth Award Scheme (HYA) was derived from the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, established in 1956, which spread to several countries in the world under different titles. The El-Hassan Youth Award Scheme started in Jordan in 1984 as a pilot scheme in the Amman Baccalaureate School.
The HYA provides a big opportunity for Jordanian youth between the ages 14 - 25 years, to enroll in self-challenging, educational and non-academic programmes in services, skills, expeditions and physical recreation to help achieve balanced personality development.
Meeting the minimum standards of achievement of each: Bronze, Silver and Gold, qualifies the participants for the award in the form of a badge and certificate presented from H.R.H. Prince El-Hassan Bin Talal.
Philosophy of the Award
The scheme incorporates the basic set of human values long sought by every society. Most important of which are: the values of freedom, justice, cooperation, participation, love, affiliation to the country, sense of social responsibility, better use of leisure time, better productivity etc. i.e. the values related to personal and social development.
The most important strategy adopted by the scheme lies in presenting opportunity and challenge for the participant in order to achieve the maximum for themselves and their society, based on participation rather than competition.
Aims and Objectives
- To encourage participation rather than competition, and to measure the participant's progress in relation to personal capabilities rather than previously set standards of achievement.
- To promote the values of participation, cooperation, team spirit and social responsibility.
- To reinforce the values of progress, affiliation, and active citizenship.
- To widen the scope, the horizon of the youth to enrich their life experiences, both on the personal as well as the national and universal levels.
- To develop the youth skills, abilities and capacities in relation to fulfilling personal as well as national needs and aspirations.
- To develop the youth personalities stressing the following aspects.
- Self reliance and self control.
- Perseverance and determination.
- Initiative and originality (creativity).
- Social responsibility and dedication.
- Value oriented decision making.
- The spirit of adventure.
- Fitness of the body and mind.
- Life skills, professional skills, cultural skills, and family related skills.
We have taken the initiative of integrating the CAS with the El-Hassan Youth Award since they have similar objectives. Having started with only a few activities, the system is now a complex network of student interaction with other members of the community. The major factor in this rapid development has been student input. Through their CAS & HYA experiences students perceived the needs of their society and developed innovative personalities through striving to satisfy those needs. Thus, new activities have been identified and participation has increased.
Because the students themselves have embraced CAS & HYA a sense of commitment and devotion to their work has resulted. CAS & HYA also recognises individuality; each participant invests in his/her own creative potentials and talents. In this way, all students have been incorporated into the system.
The programme is therefore no longer perceived as an obligation for graduation, but rather as a path to fulfilment of potential and personal enjoyment.
Through the clear vision of His Majesty King Abdullah Bin Al Hussein, Jordan's image in the international arena has developed as a country of great potential. Our achievements are apparent in all fields, as well as in our peaceful intentions and in our flourishing democracy.
The creation of the Award by HRH Prince Al-Hassan Bin Talal broadens the spectrum of these achievements. It is very true and very fundamental that HYA advocates patriotism and loyalty to our country, nevertheless, it is realised by all participants that internationalism is also a main tenet of the CAS & HYA programme.
Furthermore, by having such a system of love and co-operation, we are portraying the well-deserved image of Jordanian society as a cohesive society with a unique capacity for innovation and achievement.