Jerusalem Struggles to Build 1,400 Classrooms in East Despite Dedicated Budget

Despite a dedicated budget for education in East Jerusalem, the municipality will open only 77 new classrooms in the upcoming school year, leaving a shortage of approximately 1,461 classrooms. This was reported on Tuesday by Kan News on Reshet Bet. The Jerusalem municipality is failing to meet its construction targets despite the government's August 2023 decision to extend the five-year plan for East Jerusalem, which allocated 800 million shekels to reduce educational gaps and classroom shortages.

Nearly three years after the plan's renewal, the pace of opening new educational facilities remains below the goal of building 1,200 classrooms. In recent years, the municipality has expropriated land and even evacuated residents to build schools, but approval and construction processes have been slow and prolonged. For example, a special education school in Sheikh Jarrah required the evacuation of a family and a nursery in 2022, yet construction has not yet begun.

The ongoing delays highlight the challenges in addressing educational infrastructure needs in East Jerusalem, despite significant government funding and municipal efforts. Meanwhile, other community issues persist, such as complaints from sick children in East Jerusalem to the High Court of Justice about slow checkpoint crossings and accumulating garbage due to halted waste collection in Kafr Aqab.