Palestinian Education System Faces Severe Crisis, Threatening Future Generations
A new report details a severe and ongoing crisis in the Palestinian education system in the West Bank, impacting over 813,000 students and 50,000 teachers. The crisis, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been exacerbated since October 2023, leading to significant disruptions in schooling. Factors contributing to this include the Palestinian Authority's severe financial crisis, stemming from Israeli deductions of tax revenues and restrictions on Palestinian workers entering Israel, compounded by the cessation of USAID funding, closures, new checkpoints, and settler violence.
As a result, teachers have often received only partial salaries and are sometimes required to work only two out of five days. Students are losing entire weeks of instruction due to strikes, military operations, and access restrictions. In many West Bank schools, the norm has become three days of in-person learning per week, or even just four to five hours per day, severely affecting students' reading and writing abilities. The journey to school has become longer and more arduous, with checkpoints and searches extending travel times from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours. Some parents are attempting to transfer their children to private schools, widening the gap between socioeconomic classes.
The report highlights the impact of Israeli military actions, including raids on schools, gunfire in or near school grounds, arrests of students and staff, and blockades. In 2024 alone, 109 schools were attacked or vandalized, resulting in the deaths of 85 students and three teachers, with hundreds injured and 149 students arrested. Additionally, settler violence has targeted schools, with incidents of vandalism and physical assaults on students and teachers. Eight-four schools in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are currently under full or partial demolition orders, with ten schools serving Bedouin communities abandoned in the last three years, some destroyed by settlers.
Access to schools has become chaotic, prolonged, expensive, and uncertain due to over 900 checkpoints, a 43% increase from previous decades, and approximately 2,000 additional access restriction incidents. This has led to a loss of continuity, motivation, and the ability to acquire knowledge, particularly in core subjects. The report emphasizes Israel's responsibility as the occupying power to ensure the right to education and facilitate the proper functioning of educational institutions, stating that it must not create obstacles to education. The long-term consequences of this educational disruption are profound, potentially creating a generation with significant knowledge gaps and reduced future opportunities.
