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08/26/08
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ISRAEL-Occupied Palestinian Territory: Palestinians return to school despite hardships
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RAMALLAH, 21 August 2008 (IRIN) - As one million Palestinian children in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip prepare to return to school next week, UN agencies and
the Palestinian Ministry of Education have been stressing the problems
schoolchildren face in the occupied Palestinian territory [oPt].
"We should celebrate - in spite of all the hardships - going back to school,"
said Filippo Grandi, the deputy-commissioner of UNRWA, the UN agency for
Palestinian refugees, at a press conference held under the banner of "Unite for
Education".
At the same time he noted that 76 Palestinian children had been killed so far
this year, a 50 percent rise on last year.
UN officials and Lamis El-Alami, minister of education in the Ramallah-based
caretaker government of the Palestinian Authority (PA), said the Israeli imposed
system of roadblocks, walls and checkpoints was impeding Palestinian movement in
the West Bank, while the Gaza Strip was still under a tight blockade.
"We have not yet seen the positive impact of the ceasefire on the regular
people, the children," said Grandi, referring to an agreement between Hamas,
which rules Gaza, and Israel to end hostilities.
UNRWA-run remedial classes
This time last year UNRWA was reporting a substantial drop in the number of
children passing their examinations in the enclave, particularly in Arabic and
mathematics, but Grandi said that as part of UNRWA's summer programme, remedial
classes were offered to weaker students, allowing 80 percent of them to catch up
and rejoin their peers in the new school year.
The UN Children's Fund's (UNICEF's) Patricia McPhillips said her agency ran
youth centres with the PA to help adolescents failing in school.
"Education is a lifeline, a much needed semblance of normalcy," she said, saying
that children's lives in the oPt were "framed by conflict, occupation and the
fast growing poverty around them".
McPhillips said education was the "most important investment in the future".
In a territory where over half the population is under 18, children need all
they can to get ahead. Grandi stressed that this included peace, as otherwise
education could not be fully utilized.
East Jerusalem
In East Jerusalem, Palestinians encountered other difficulties with the
education system. The PA's El-Alami said a central problem was the lack of a
clear governing body for schools in East Jerusalem.
Israel does not allow the PA to function in Jerusalem and has been accused by
rights groups of discriminating against the Palestinian population there (who
received residency when the Israelis annexed the eastern part of the city some
years after the 1967 occupation).
According to the Alternative Information Centre, an Israeli-Palestinian NGO, the
dropout rate among boys in East Jerusalem high schools can reach 50 percent, and
the quality of education is so low that some Palestinian students reach the
ninth grade without knowing how to read or write.
El-Alami said the movement restrictions meant good teachers from the West Bank
could not travel to East Jerusalem, creating a shortage in the Holy City.
Gidi Schmerling, a spokesman for Jerusalem Municipality, said large-scale
improvements were being made to East Jerusalem schools.
"In recent years, Israel and the municipality invested tens of millions to make
the East Jerusalem education system an advanced and leading one," he told IRIN,
adding, as an example, that most funds for new buildings were allocated to the
eastern section of the city.
Israel also says the movement restrictions help protect its civilians and
soldiers in the West Bank and inside the country proper.
EU donation
Meanwhile in a related development, the European Union on 20 August gave 40
million euros to the PA for budget support, beyond the promises it made at last
year's Paris donor conference where donors had pledged some US$7.7 billion.
However, PA officials said some Arab donors had not followed through on pledges,
leaving the caretaker government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad cash-strapped.
The new donation will, among other things, allow the PA to pay salaries,
including to teachers.
In recent months the government has had trouble paying salaries on time -
something that has undermined the internationally-backed regime.
The above article comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2008
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