Alternative Information Center - The Economy of the Occupation 13-15: Report on the Educational System in East Jerusalem

This report is based on research that Niv Hachlili conducted and wrote between September 2005 and January 2006. For the purpose of the study, extensive bibliographical research, onsite tours, meetings and personal interviews were conducted. Shir Hever edited and expanded the report. Rima Essa helped in preparing the research.

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The report does not purport to cover the entire educational system in East Jerusalem. Rather, it presents, as much as possible, an up-to-date and extensive picture of education, and recommends several alternative actions to change and improve the current situation. It goes without saying that none of these recommendations can be realized without the help of the Israeli educational system, since Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem by military force created a responsibility for the Israeli government to provide for the civilian services to the local population.

Despite the limitations of the research, the conclusions of the report make evident that the Education Ministry and the Jerusalem Education Authority (henceforth, JEA) have failed in their duties to provide the requisite infrastructure, design, construction, and operation of schools in East Jerusalem. Even officials with the best of intentions, who try to improve the educational situation within the institutional framework, are unable to initiate significant changes in a system that maintains educational gaps between the Jewish and Palestinian Arab sectors, under the cover of political and legal correctness, all the while distorting facts. Discrimination in education is not a new phenomenon. It has existed since the annexation of Palestinian neighborhoods following the war in 1967; over the years, it has gotten worse. Because of the uncertainty over the continuation of Israeli rule over Palestinian neighborhoods and because of the Separation Wall that prevent tens of thousand of Palestinian schoolchildren who live east of the city from attending schools, both local and national authorities refrain from long-term investment in a suitable educational infrastructure for Palestinian children in East Jerusalem.

The data presented in the report were collected from differences sources, but even after examining and crosschecking them, not all of them were corroborated. It is not a coincidence that the data and documentation connected to the educational system are not updated and do not reflect the actual situation. Rather, this general oversight reflects the attitude of the Israeli state towards education in East Jerusalem.

During the course of the interviews and testimonies that we conducted, the interviewees feared the price that they would likely pay for criticizing the educational system. Thus, we minimized citing testimonies as much as possible and avoided mention of names unless we received express permission from the interviewees. All who have ever visited schools in East Jerusalem can see with their own eyes how ingrained is the fear of the system, even in the area of education. The harsh things that were described in the interviews strongly suggest that workers in the educational system are exploited in many areas. Various complaints that we heard were removed from the report since we had not the tools to verify them.

All the same, despite tremendous difficulties, it is possible to find teachers, parents, community leaders and school principals who try to introduce improvements in the current educational system and raise the level of education.

As in many other fields, Palestinian citizens of the State of Israel suffer from discrimination in education. The educational system also discriminates in different ways against children of migrant workers, children living in development towns, children of Ethiopian immigrants, and children of other politically and economically weak groups in Israeli society. However, discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel is most widespread and systematic, and in East Jerusalem it is particularly extreme, and thus worthy of a particular emphasis.

Researchers Sorel Cahan and Yaakov Yelink have shown that among four sectors, (Arabic, Druze, official Jewish, and unofficial Jewish) non-Jewish schools suffer the most discrimination in the allocation of compensatory education.[*]

According to them, allocation is arbitrary and ignores the differences in educational disadvantage among the sectors. The authors argue that were there a common index of educational disadvantage that weighed three socio-economic indicators—the proportion of low income families, the proportion of large families, and the proportion of poorly educated parents—then the allocations for Jewish elementary and junior high education would turn out to be five times greater than allocations in the non-Jewish sector. (1) Or, as the American-based Human Rights Watch report that was published in 2002 states: “At the present rate, Israel will not close the gap between Jewish and Arab education, even if it were to allocate equally annual allowances to schools.” (2)

The report that the Human Rights Watch published shows data according to which the Israeli educational system discriminates against Palestinians on every measurable criterion. Although Palestinian pupils make up 22.2% of the educational system in Israel, they receive only 17.6% of the allocation of teaching hours and 19.5% of classrooms; the average number of pupils per classroom is higher, as is the teacher student ratio; they have fewer libraries; educational and psychological counseling is very limited; the number of social workers is minimal as is the number of teachers with university degrees; programs designed to improve teacher performance are few; attendance at kindergartens is very sporadic; special education programs are minimal as is the number of those eligible for matriculation-certificates; and, more Palestinian pupils do not qualify for university admission. (3)

Dr. Daphna Golan, the chair of the Committee for Closing the Gap in the Education Ministry’s Pedagogical Secretariat, told Human Rights Watch that “If everyone gets more or less the same share in society and the gap is ignored, we will never close it when it comes to physical conditions of schools, the number of kids in class, and teachers’ skills and training.”(4)

The Education Ministry sponsored a research study whose main conclusions were that the Ministry itself discriminated against the Palestinian education system. (5)

The policy to close the gaps in the Education Ministry was severely criticized in an internal report written by the head of the Post-Primary Education in the Ministry. The report argued that the policy of the Education Ministry perpetuates if not exacerbates the educational gap, and that the program to reduce the gap is merely intended “to throw sand in the eyes.” The Ministry shelved the document. (6)

When Human Rights Watch asked Dalia Sprinzak, of the Education Ministry’s Economics and Budgeting Administration, if she thought the gap between Jewish and Palestinian education would ever be closed, she answered, “It is very difficult. No, I don’t think so... But it is the right direction. Our expectations are too high that we can advance very quickly in this direction.” All the same, Sprinzak noted that “It is important for the State to say that it [closing the gaps] is important to us.” (7)

Following the 1967 War, Israel annexed to the municipal boundaries of West Jerusalem some 70 sq. km, about 12% of the West Bank. This area includes the municipality of East Jerusalem, which was 6 sq. km. and had been under Jordanian rule. Although the international community has never recognized the annexation, Israel treats this area as an integral part of the country. (8)

Since 1967, Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are granted permanent residency status. This special status prevents them from having full citizenship rights, such as the right to vote in national elections, but it does entitle them to social benefits provided by the National Insurance Institute and to health insurance, as well as the right to work in Israel without the necessity of special permits. This partial status holds also for children of Palestinian residents who were born inside the State of Israel. Of course, Jews who moved to settlements that were built on expropriated lands have not lost their Israeli citizenship.[†]

Preventing Palestinian residents of Jerusalem from acquiring Israeli citizenship plugs into the “demographic problem” discourse in Israel and exemplifies the avowed effort of Zionist parties in the Knesset to maintain the Jewish majority of the city’s population. In reference to the future boundaries of the city, Uri Lupolianski, the mayor of Jerusalem, said: “I will not go into details about the border line. Let’s say it will be based on the maximum number of Jews and the minimum number of Arabs within the State of Israel.” (9)

Under the Compulsory Education Law and Compulsory Free Education Law, the State of Israel and the Jerusalem Municipality are required to provide free public education for all Palestinian children in East Jerusalem, as to all residents of Israel. (10)

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2005 Jerusalem had an estimated population of 719,900, but according to the population census of the Interior Ministry, only 788,700. (The gap between the two results from taking the census every 12 years.) The Palestinian population was estimated at 230 thousand in 2004 in East Jerusalem proper, and an additional 1,385,400 in surrounding communities. To this estimate must be added the expected growth of the Palestinian population until 2006, as the state authorities do not report the extent of the population on a frequent basis.[‡]

According to this estimate, the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem was 246,940 in 2006, that is to say, 31.31% of the city’s population. Nevertheless, the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies estimates that the proportion of the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem is 34% of the total population in the city. The reason is that, since the construction of the Separation Wall began in East Jerusalem, many Palestinians have had to settle inside the city so that they wouldn’t be cut off from centers of employment, education, health and commerce. (11)

Because the population in East Jerusalem is younger than the population in the western part of the city, one can surmise that the proportion of the population in East Jerusalem requiring primary and post-primary educational needs is greater than 34%. (12)

According to 2003 figures, 66% of the Palestinian families in Jerusalem live below the poverty line, as opposed to 48% of Palestinian families and 15% of Jewish families throughout Israel. Seventy-six percent of Palestinian children in Jerusalem live below the poverty line. While Palestinians make up 34% of the total population in the city, they make up 56% of the poor and about 58% of poor children (i.e., more than 105 thousand Palestinian children). More than 49% of East Jerusalem residents are children. (13)

These are the highest poverty figures in the State of Israel. This is despite the widespread conceit that the percentage of Muslim men in Jerusalem among all Muslim men employed in the civilian workforce is greater than that of Jews. (14) Discrimination, not laziness and indolence, is at the root of poverty.

These figures offer supporting evidence for the need to provide suitable and free education in East Jerusalem, as defined by law.

The official bodies in the Jerusalem Municipality and Education Ministry that deal with education in East Jerusalem are the JEA for the Palestinian sector, the JEA Administration for Planning and Educational Development, and the JEA Administration of the Holistic Program, Education Ministry supervisor for education in East Jerusalem, Safety Engineer for educational institutions, the JEA Department of Educational and Physical Planning, the Department of Guidance and Oversight of Finances of educational institutions, the Department of Assets, the Department of Policy Planning in the Department of Urban Planning, Education Ministry Assistant Director General responsible for the Palestinian sector, and the Department of Unofficial Recognized Education in the Education Ministry (on unofficially recognized schools, see section 14).

The Education Ministry is responsible for paying teachers and principals` salaries, and the JEA for building maintenance and ongoing expenses. (15)

In combination with Ministry of Education supervision, the department attributes great importance to promoting school principals as spearheading the promotion of the educational system in East Jerusalem.

In a conversation with Lara Mubariki, the assistant director of the JEA in East Jerusalem, it was stated that the JEA is responsible for school registration, printing textbooks,[§] building educational institutions, school safety by means of Safety Engineers and transportation (pupils who are registered as living on the other side of the Separation Wall travel by means of the “back to back” procedure).(16)[**]

Other positions mentioned: the person in charge of post primary education, the person responsible for enrollment in kindergartens, the person responsible for manpower, janitors, secretaries, and workers from the department of self-examination.

It was also pointed out in conversation that the municipality pays for ongoing expenses (heating, water, and the like) and that money is transferred four times a year. Mubariki estimates that the expenditure on every primary school child is NIS 20 to 30 per quarter, for post-primary and special education pupils NIS 100 per quarter.

We were told that earmarked money received from the Education Ministry is designated for equipment and different activities, and not for payment of bills. It was also pointed out that the municipality helps private schools in East Jerusalem by providing entry permits for teachers from the West Bank. Among the schoolchildren in East Jerusalem are those who are not registered in the Population Registry and, thus, are not eligible for health insurance and the like.

Pupils attending public schools in East Jerusalem learn an average of 185 school days a year, as opposed to 220 in the primary education system in Israel. There is considerable difficulty in determining who is responsible for what in the system and how the division of labor is carried out. Often, we found that the data from the JEA and the Education Ministry about areas of responsibility contradicted each other. The outstanding discrepancies that we identified will be presented in this report. (17)

Following the Oslo Agreements, in which civilian authority in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (henceforward, OPT) was transferred to the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian curriculum gradually replaced the Jordanian one. The JEA does not interfere with the contents of school subjects in the educational system in East Jerusalem, that is to say, the curriculum, school material, and matriculation exams. The official, urban educational system for the Palestinian sector receives funds from the Education Ministry and the Jerusalem Municipality, but the educational content is a mixture of Palestinian and Jordanian curricula. This fact makes most evident the educational differences between East Jerusalem residents and Palestinian citizens of Israel. It also removes any responsibility for the State of Israel to provide education for the children of East Jerusalem, as the criteria used in the State of Israel to assess pupils are irrelevant to children in East Jerusalem. On the one hand, the State of Israel is legally obliged to provide education as specified in the country’s laws. On the other, the state does not oversee the curricula; it relies on data with which it is either unfamiliar or unable to check for its reliability.[††]

The curricula taught in East Jerusalem do not promote Palestinian pupils’ integration into Israeli society and work market; nor do they prepare pupils for higher studies in Israeli institutions (in stark contrast with the Israeli educational system). Thus, Israel implements a policy whose goal is to disallow integration of East Jerusalem Palestinians into Israeli society. This policy goes hand in hand with a policy that prevents residents of East Jerusalem from being Israeli citizens.

Nonetheless, it is important that there is no uniform curricular policy in East Jerusalem. In the Silwan neighborhood, for example, operate Israeli schools alongside those administered by the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, and the United Nations. Each school has a respectively different curriculum. (18)

According to the Knesset Research and Information Center, most of the unofficial recognized schools in East Jerusalem teach the Palestinian curriculum, which suits neither the Israeli labor market nor system of higher education. (19)

The Israeli school system is divided into “sectors”: secular-Jewish, religious-Jewish, ultra-orthodox, and Palestinian. For those persons who collect and analyze data in the national education system, it was found convenient to bring all Palestinian education together under one umbrella. For example, Palestinians in the North, who also suffer discrimination in comparison to Jewish settlements, apply the Israeli curricula. The budgets and educational infrastructure that they command is far better than those of the Bedouins in the Negev or of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. The success rate in matriculation exams in certain Palestinian communities in the North even surpasses the national average. As stated above, the curricula in East Jerusalem is Jordanian-Palestinian and has no connection with what the rest of the Palestinians in Israel study. The Education Ministry and the Central Bureau of Statistics collect data from the entire Palestinian sector of the Israeli education system, and then publish the average for the sector. Thus, a distorted picture emerges, one composed of several “averages” that have no connection with reality whatsoever in East Jerusalem.

In October 2005, the Ir-Amim Foundation published a comprehensive report on public education in Palestinian East Jerusalem (which was also submitted as a petition to the Israeli High Court regarding the insufficient number of classrooms). The report exposed, for the first time, the issue of “absentee pupils” in East Jerusalem. According to the report, “some 14, 500 Palestinian children in East Jerusalem are not recognized by educational authorities and it is not clear where—or even if—they are studying.” (20) Neither the municipality nor the state bothers to check this numerical gap. As a result, it is difficult to know how many children of mandatory school age are living in East Jerusalem. The JEA presents different figures in the same annual publication for the exact same cross-section of pupils.

According to the JEA figures, updated for 2006, there are 163 public educational institutions, 96 of which are kindergartens (94 for children age five, and two for children younger than age five), 48 primary and post-primary schools and 19 special education schools are currently in operation in East Jerusalem. In addition, there are 76 unofficial recognized (see above) educational institutions, 55 of which are kindergartens and 21 are primary and post-primary schools, are in operation. (21)

The total number of pupils studying in the official educational system (including special education) for the school year 2004/2005 is 45,846. This figure includes unofficial recognized educational institutions. Alongside the public school system and the unofficial recognized educational institutions in East Jerusalem, operate a private school system catering to 20, 363 pupils. According to the official figures of the Jerusalem Municipality, a total of 66,209 pupils study in East Jerusalem.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics and the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies (which the Jerusalem Municipality bases its figures), 237,100 Palestinians reside in East Jerusalem. Forty-seven percent of them are between the ages of zero and 18, in other words, more than 111 thousand children. Even if 30% of them are not of school age, close to 80 thousand of them are supposed to be in school or kindergarten. Even this calculation raises the fact that 14 thousand children of school age are “unaccountable” in the school system. (22)

According to the Knesset Research and Information Center, 48,572 pupils studied in the public school system in East Jerusalem in 2005/2006, that is, 44% of all pupils in East Jerusalem.[‡‡]

These figures shed light on the actual number of “unaccountable” children. Based on the figures of the center, the estimated number of children not registered in school is 40,245. Some 22 thousand of them study in the private school system (about one fourth of them in Waqf schools), and, thus, the number of children not attending any school in 2006 comes to about 18 thousand. (23)

According to municipality figures, 66 thousand children in East Jerusalem are registered, but these figures are not reliable. Not everybody who registers to an official school is guaranteed a spot. From an examination of the JEA figures for the past five years, the number of pupils in private schools has practically not changed from year to year, and, thus, it is evident that nobody has the actual figures with regard to the 20 thousand pupils who supposedly study at private schools.

The municipal comptroller gave an explanation of this matter: “Let us remind ourselves that the municipality must enroll all school aged children. With regard to pupils from second grade on, who did not begin compulsory education within the municipal framework and ask to be transferred from a private school to a public one, their enrollment is based on the number of available places, all the while finding creative solutions. The JEA does not concern itself with the registration of pupils in the private school system in East Jerusalem, and has no knowledge about it.” (24) Despite the Education Ministry regulations, the JEA does not keep track of deferred registrations in public schools, and thus it is not possible to know how many children in East Jerusalem are prevented from learning in the public education system due to classroom shortages. (25) Yet from these figures it is clear that many of the registered children do not find an available place in the municipal school system and that there is neither supervision nor information on the private school system.

Individuals in the Education Ministry and JEA responsible for education in East Jerusalem admit that there are glitches in registration and information of children. In reference to the registration of pupils, one of the Education Ministry supervisors in East Jerusalem said that “There are errors in the tracking system, and thus problems with teachers.” “There are a lot of pupils registered in more than one school. The place allocated for a child is blocked the moment we discover these kinds of errors. There are registration areas but the address of the parents is not correct. Parents write the wrong addresses in order to get rights.” (26)

The municipal comptroller’s report also refers to this issue: “At the time of registration to institutions in East Jerusalem, which was determined by the Education Ministry, the percentage of registered pupils is very low. The norm is to register to schools and kindergartens close to the beginning of the school year and even after it. This is despite attempts by the JEA to get parents to register their children on time, and despite widespread publication about the issue (notices, letters to parents, newspapers, media, et cetera). This makes it difficult for an orderly preparation for the beginning of the school year. Until the school year 2003/2004, registration to kindergartens and recognized unofficial schools was done at the institutions themselves, by means of registration forms from the JEA, which the municipality later received back. Instructions from the Education Ministry established that registration to kindergartens must be carried out at the municipality. Since the school year 2003/2004, the municipality acts accordingly.” (27) There is a serious shortage of classrooms in East Jerusalem. What emerges from the master plan for educational institutions in East Jerusalem, which was published in the beginning of 2003, is that the Palestinian student population in urban schools in Jerusalem has grown in the past decade at an annual rate of 7%. (28)

Likewise, according to the Ir Amim report, “In practice, neither the Education Ministry nor the Jerusalem Municipality are capable of estimating how many pupils apply to public schools in East Jerusalem and how many classrooms are needed to provide this demand. Likewise, neither body is capable of estimating how many pupils drop out of the public school system in East Jerusalem.” The Ir Amim Foundation estimates that there is a need to build approximately 160 classrooms a year—in order to not to lose ground. (29)

Today, about half of the Palestinian children in Jerusalem study in the public school system while thousands of others are forced to pay for their education, whether Waqf schools or schools of other unofficial systems. Many simply do not go to school at all.

In 2001, the Israeli High Court obliged the Municipality to provide public education for every Palestinian child from kindergarten and first-grade age, and to continue to provide for their education through future years. (30) Yet despite this verdict, the number of pupils in public kindergartens has dropped in this period from 2,832 to 2,245. At the same time, the kindergarten age population grew at a staggering annual rate of 4.2%. (31) At the opening of the 2005/6 school year this September, in Silwan, for example, a “unique” solution was found: in order to absorb all first graders, the sixth grade classes were disbanded, and those pupils were sent to learn in private schools. Similarly, some children who complete their studies in public elementary schools are refused entry to public middle and high schools.” (32) In November 2005, the Israeli High Court obliged the Jerusalem Municipality to conduct a survey of educational needs regarding the school age population of East Jerusalem. The survey has yet to be carried out. (33)

Discrimination in allocation of education resources is well-known to all parties involved—most of the relevant decision makers do not deny this. The JEA (which does not concern itself with education in the ultra-orthodox sector–this has a separate supervisory body and separate budget), is responsible for a total of 110 thousand pupils in the entire city, 45 thousand of them in East Jerusalem (that is to say, 42% of the pupils under the JEA’s responsibility). Yet only NIS 100 million out of a total of the NIS 490 million JEA budget (20.4%) is allocated to education in East Jerusalem. These financial figures, however, do not reveal both the scale and severity of the situation in its entirety.

Sixty percent of the budget is targeted to salaries of teachers and teaching assistants. Other than salaries and rentals, the JEA spends a total of NIS 20 million in East Jerusalem. Three million of this expense is for the reprinting of textbooks (more of which will be elaborated below). Thus, investment in the entire educational infrastructure of children from East Jerusalem (the poorest in Israel), comes to a total of NIS 17 million. This sum is supposed to be divided among the schools to cover the upkeep of buildings, continuous administrative activity of the schools, payment of services, overhead (heating, electricity, water, sewerage etc.), and to promote an “adequate” learning environment.

Discrimination is equally evident in the allocation of computers. In West Jerusalem there is one computer for every ten students, while in East Jerusalem there is one computer for every 26 students. In the letter sent by the director of the JEA, Ben-Tzion Nimat to Saar Nathanial, a member of the Jerusalem municipality committee, it was written that the physical conditions make it difficult to set up computer systems in Palestinian and ultra-Orthodox schools. Nimat added that in 2005, 300 computers were added in East Jerusalem in an attempt to lessen the gap. (34)

It is not at all clear who supervises the receipt of payments from parents, or the amount of money the schools actually take in. Nor is it clear how the JEA budget is broken down, or how the JEA supervises this budget. In 2006, the JEA reported that the education budget for East Jerusalem was NIS 112,933,000, which is 29% of the annual JEA budget, even though the percentage of school aged children here is about 35% of all the children in Jerusalem. (35)

Educational institutions in East Jerusalem are not included within the framework of self-administration. Parents of schoolchildren must pay a registration fee to the municipality at the beginning of every year. These fees are supposedly used for different activities, such as school trips, educational activities, parties, etc. The tariffs that the JEA established for the 2003/2004 school year were the following:

The JEA operates the Department of Guidance and Oversight of Finances for schools in both East and West Jerusalem. The municipal comptroller’s 1999/2000 report investigated initiatives that the JEA was to have implemented in East Jerusalem schools. Among other things, her report revealed that since February 1998, the JEA has not had anyone to oversee the public funds injected into education in the Eastern part of the city. She recommended the immediate appointment of an inspector to East Jerusalem schools. Also, the Ministry of Interior department responsible for inspecting municipal finances wrote in the report for 2000 that “in the last three years, oversight of schools in the Palestinian sector of the city was not conducted due to lack of manpower.” In the municipal comptroller’s follow-up report of 2001/2002, it was reported that at the end of February 2002, the inspection position was filled and work was under way. In late 2002, the JEA distributed a booklet of rules and regulations regarding accounting and record keeping to all school principals. For the 2002/2003 school year, the comptroller found that audits were conducted in only 12 of 44 schools and all the schools which were audited had significant shortcomings. No system of follow up or correction of these shortcomings was proposed.

For years there has been a lack of effective financial oversight, leading to poor management of money in the system. Until the school year 2003/2004, no set uniform fees for school services were established, nor were there rules for granting discounts. In a March 2003 letter concerning collection of fees that the JEA sent to school principals, it was stated that reductions of fees (but not exemptions) were allowed. Criteria for granting reductions and the permissible rate of reductions were not established. The comptroller found that the JEA also had no data on sums educational institutions collected from parents, on the collection rates, or on the types of discounts given. (36)

9. “Printing of School Textbooks” Clause in JEA Budget for Education in East Jerusalem

Needless to say, in almost every clause of the budget that we examined, many questions were raised with regard to the distribution of money, supervision and sound procedures. One example of how the education budget for East Jerusalem does not reflect reality is the clause on textbooks, which the municipal comptroller studied.

For years, Education Ministry and JEA officials made a point of mentioning how investment in the printing of textbooks made a considerable difference in pricing for schoolchildren in East Jerusalem. In grades one to ten, the price of a textbook was established at NIS 6, in grades 11-12 at NIS 8.

There are two main reasons for reprinting textbooks. First, the books come from the Palestinian Authority, displaying its symbol. The State of Israel is not willing to supply children with books displaying the Authority’s symbol, because it would be seen as if the Palestinian Authority is responsible for their education (even though Israel is neither responsible for the curricula, or its supervision). Second, the books include material that the Israeli Education Ministry considers as incitement against the State of Israel. In the course of reprinting textbooks, the contents are subject to censorship.

The JEA employs someone to peruse the textbooks, with the assistance of one of the regular inspectors.

In recent years, the textbooks have been gradually replaced. For the 2000/2001 school year, textbooks for grades one and six were replaced; the following school year, for grades two and seven. Thirty new books are published for an additional two school grades per year.

Because of a lack of budget, books for grades three and eight were not replaced for the 2002/2003 school year, nor books for grades four and nine as planned for the 2003/2004 school year. Following the breakdown of the budget, in the previous year, NIS 3 million had been paid to printing houses for the reprinting of textbooks.

The municipal comptroller’s 2004 report showed how the system wasted money as a result of wrong decisions, defective implementation, and lack of supervision. Printing of textbooks for the beginning of the school year was done on a tight schedule and often too late. For the 2002/2003 school year, permission for printing textbooks was received on August 1^st,2002. For the 2003/2004 school year, permission was received very late, on August 28^th, 2003, because the Education Ministry delayed the transfer of budget. On account of this delay, the textbooks were not published until the end of October 2003 (two months after the opening of the school year), and hence, were not issued to the schools. “At this point, the parents of schoolchildren privately bought the books from the Palestinian Authority and stores,” the municipal comptroller noted. “It turns out that a substantial portion of the expenses for printing books was for nothing, since in the course of the year these books will not be used.” (37)

Despite the recommendation of the comptroller to reexamine if the expenses are necessary, and, if so, how supervision and printing can be carried out given the experience of the past few years, nothing has been done. The JEA continues to pour money into reprinting despite the fact that the majority of books arrive so late that they are not distributed to schools at all. The quality of reprinting is poor and there are many mistakes both in form and content of textbooks. In several schools the price of books is different from those the municipality advertises. Most parents buy the books straight from the Palestinian Authority. The problems noted here have not yet even addressed the financial and other issues touching on the production processes of the books.

In a 2002 report, the state comptroller briefly touched upon the shortage of classrooms in East Jerusalem. Among other things, the report stated, “In an internal memorandum that the JEA prepared in 1989 (see above), it was pointed that there is a serious lack of educational structures in East Jerusalem, and that almost half of the institutions of the municipal educational system operate in rented apartments and rooms unfit for instructional purposes. The Jerusalem municipality allocated buildings for construction of educational structures of the Palestinian sector in East Jerusalem (180 classrooms in 1995 and an additional 130 in 1999). The shortage of classrooms and the particular difficulties of this sector were for years well known to the JEA. Yet only in 2002 did the Municipality start to prepare a master plan for the educational system in East Jerusalem, a master plan that would indicate the educational needs of this sector and suggest ways to provide these needs. According to data from the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, during the 1990’s, an average of 52 new classrooms was being built per year. Yet, according to the data from the Municipality, only 445 classrooms were built between 1988 and 2000 in East Jerusalem, 75% of them being built in the past five years. The Municipality also pays the rent of some 400 classrooms in East Jerusalem. (38) According to the municipality figures in 2002, the educational system in East Jerusalem is short of about 1,000 classrooms. Between 1995 and 1999, 310 classrooms were built. The master plan for the educational system is under preparation. (39)

According to more update figures (2005), the Eastern part of the city is short of 1,354 standard rooms; in 2010, this number is expected to reach 1,883. (40) All the while, the master plan of the educational system in East Jerusalem that the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies prepared and submitted remains a dead letter at the municipality offices.

The city comptroller found that East Jerusalem has a great shortage of classrooms. “Based on the master plan for educational institutions in East Jerusalem published in 2003, the population of pupils in municipal schools in the Palestinian sector in Jerusalem has increased in the past decade at a rate of seven percent per year.” (41) The Ir-Amim report presents up-to-date figures: “Instead of embarking upon a plan to speed up budgeting and construction—in order to build the 245 new classrooms required by the 2001 Court ruling (following Ir-Amim’s court petition on the shortage of classrooms), budget levels for new classrooms declined by 22%, in comparison to the years preceding the ruling.” Although 161 classrooms were constructed for the Palestinian educational system between 2002 and 2005 (using funds allocated before the 2001 Court ruling), 213 were closed; a net loss of 54 classrooms.” From the JEA figures, only 35 classrooms were completed for the school year 2005/2006. (42) The Knesset Research and Information Center found that 55 classrooms are “missing” from the October 2006 plans that existed in the plans of November 2005. (43)

The Education Ministry estimates that construction of a classroom is about NIS 500 thousand. According to Ministry of Finance figures, the national budget of construction of classrooms in 2005 is NIS 349 million. (44) On the basis of the budget, the Education Ministry granted local municipalities the authorization to be obligated in construction contracts of new classrooms for a sum of NIS 325 million. According to July 7^th, 2005 figures, only NIS 129.5 million were paid, that is, about 32% of the budget. (45) It is important to note that the Education Ministry does not use the entire budget at its disposal. In the first half of 2006, it was found that 20% of the education budget was underutilized. This underutilization of the budget results from a stringent policy of the Ministry of Finance that oversees all expenses as well as from a lack of motivation of government officials and elected representatives to find uses for the money at their disposal. Nonetheless, underutilization of the budgets designated for East Jerusalem is by far the worst. (46)

At the official level, the Education Ministry blamed East Jerusalem residents, claiming classroom shortage resulted from residents’ refusal to sell land for school construction, the widespread illegal construction in the Eastern part of the city, and the inaccurate registration of land ownership. Yet the difficulties in identifying public land and illegal construction result from the policies of the Israeli authorities, which do not allocate enough building permits to the Palestinian population. Moreover, about 35% of Palestinian lands in East Jerusalem have been expropriated in order to build Jewish neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city. (47)

Researchers at Ir-Amim identified many open plots whose owners are willing to sell in order to establish schools, but the Education Ministry refrains from acquiring these plots. (48) In the neighborhood of Umm Tuba, in southeast Jerusalem, for example, the official line of land shortage was refuted by the head of the Parent Teachers Association in East Jerusalem, Abd al-Karim Lafi, the chairman of the East Jerusalem Parents Teachers Association and Sara Kreimer of the Ir- Amim organization. (49) In Ras el Amud, plans for the construction of 48 classrooms have been delayed for many years due to expropriation of land designated for expansion of the Jewish settlement Ma’ale HaZeitim. The expropriation realizes, in part, the E-1 quadrant plan—the attempt to create territorial continuity between Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem. (50)

The municipality claims to be aware of the shortage of classrooms in East Jerusalem, but, in this context, functions as a contractor working for the Education Ministry. That is to say, the municipality works in East Jerusalem with the budget coming from the ministry, and, thus, does not take responsibility for the failures resulting from the shortage in the budget. (51) The above arguments make evident how the JEA relies on existing restrictions to justify its shortcomings.

As of today, the Jerusalem Municipality has not approved any master plan for East Jerusalem (approval has been withheld for many years under a number of different pretexts). The lack of a master plan delays granting building permits. Likewise, there is almost no available private land that suits construction of large buildings. Rather, the State of Israel holds onto available lands in East Jerusalem and is in no hurry to release them for building needs. Even when suitable land is identified, the Education Ministry and JED delay construction on the land for years.

Even after plots needed for public needs are identified and approved, the plan for urban construction requires their expropriation. This expropriation assumes reasonably high compensation. The Education Ministry finances construction of new buildings in accordance with its abilities and budget, but it does not finance compensation to land owners. The municipality is not able to finance on its own the great expenses entailed in the expropriation of properties designated for construction of schools and kindergartens.

“On May 30^th, 2002, the municipal council approved an exceptional budget of NIS 5 million to finance the evacuees of East Jerusalem in order to construct educational institutions. According to the figures of the municipal Assets Department, compensation for lands expropriated for construction of schools in East Jerusalem came to a total of US$ 1,410,000 (NIS 6,419,620 according to the exchange rate in 2002) for the past five years. In addition, there is a need to draw up a plan for registration needs for almost every project. The cost for preparing the plans for these projects in East Jerusalem is estimated in tens of thousands of NIS.” (52)

A specific example of how the current situation is perpetuated is the case of the residents of Tel Sawahreh in East Jerusalem. In their own words, “Four years ago, the residents of Tel Sawahreh came to an agreement with the Waqf on allocating Waqf land in the neighborhood of Umm Leisson for the construction of two new schools. In July 2003, the Parents Association of the neighborhoods received a letter from Yehudit Shalvi, then the director of the JEA. The letter stated that the municipal committee of moneys approved construction of two schools on land that was given. Yet, since then, no action has happened on the ground. Due to the delay, the Waqf threatened to use the land for other purposes. In January 2005, the new director of the JEA, Ben-Tzion Nimat, wrote the following to the Parents Association: “The municipality has no intention of ignoring its promises to the residents. The municipal branch of Public Buildings plans to build two schools. They have already begun work plans for the girls’ school. If the Education Ministry approves the construction budget, construction will begin this year. Concerning the boys’ school, planning has been a little delayed because the Education Ministry has asked that the program matches the instructions of the Dovrat Report on Israeli Education. After approval is received from the Education Ministry, the planning procedures will continue.”

The exchange of letters in the past years between the residents of Tel Sawahreh and the municipality come to a dozen pages. In the beginning of the 2005/2006 school years, after it became evident that nothing had changed, the residents decided to boycott the schools, protesting their affairs being continuously put off. Eight thousand, two hundred pupils in East Jerusalem participated in the strike. The strikers pointed out that the reason for the strike was “Fifty two pupils to a classroom, double shift lessons, classrooms in shelters, and four hours of learning a day—Third World conditions in the capital of Israel.” The strikers wrote to the mayor and indicated that in the nearby Armon HaNatsiv neighborhood there are new and improved infrastructures, and desire to put an end to the ongoing discrimination. The following day, the then Education Ministry Director-General Ronit Tirosh intervened. She set up a meeting with representatives of the municipality and sent off a letter where she promised to transfer a budget for building a girls school in Umm Leisson (18 classrooms) and to work at improving the physical conditions in the schools in East Jerusalem. “I would like to stress,” she wrote, “that our ministry is working as soon as possible to realize the agreements reached today. Thus, I expect the striking pupils to return tomorrow to their desks.” (53) The Parents Association in East Jerusalem continues their struggle and is considering another strike for the 2006/2007 school year. (54)

The municipal comptroller summarizes the situation: “In the current conditions, despite great effort invested in the municipal Palestinian education system, absorption of all the students who want to transfer to the municipal education system is difficult. Although the annual number of classrooms built in municipal schools in the Palestinian sector has been, on average, 50 per year, an expected shortage of adequate classrooms in kindergartens and schools will reach in 1,354 in 2005 and in 1,883 in 2010 (with reference to preschool to twelfth grade, including special education). Reference is to classrooms conforming to official standards. Other classrooms (for example, those in rented buildings) are not included in this calculation. Following approval by the Education Ministry, the municipality built about 370 classrooms in East Jerusalem between 1995 and 2002 (a similar number of classrooms were built in the same period in the western part of the city).” (55) From the updated figures that the Jerusalem municipality published in 2006, only 125 classrooms are planned for construction in the coming years. (56)

In order to try to cope with the serious shortage of classrooms, the municipality has had to adopt what the municipal comptroller called “middling” solutions, at least outwardly, to implement the Compulsory Education Law for all East Jerusalem children. Among these solutions are rented buildings, a double-shift system (i.e. pupils attend either in the morning or in the afternoon), mobile units, and permission to operate unofficially recognized schools. Each of these solutions has serious drawbacks, which adversely affect the education given to pupils. According to JEA figures, 108 buildings serve as schools in East Jerusalem. Forty-six of them are standard structures; 62 are substandard. The substandard structures are residential buildings rented and converted into classrooms. It is hard to verify municipality figures given that that even recognized schools (that are not included in the official school system) are located in rented buildings.

According to the budget book for 2003, the municipal comptroller found that the annual rentals come to a total of NIS 10 million. The comptroller’s report states: “For the 2002/2003 school year, the number of rented classrooms in the official educational system came to 400. According to the person responsible for assets, before the municipality rents a building, the department in charge of inspecting structures checks that the structure has a license and that there are not any building violations. Due to the growing student-aged population, even standard schools avail of annex rooms (laboratories, libraries, and computer labs) as classrooms. The school buildings that the municipality has built are modern and spacious and would stand up to standards in West Jerusalem. On the other hand, the conditions of the rented structures (in the neighborhoods of Ras al-’Amud and Tel Sawahreh) that were investigated are particularly bad. The combination of small classrooms and a large number of pupils produces overcrowding (children without desk or a desk meant for two but used by three pupils), classrooms without windows, bathrooms in the yard, very small yards (if present at all), families living in the same building, and worse.” (57) The Israeli law states that every pupil must have a surface of 120 square centimeters, but in East Jerusalem schools only 50 square centimeters is allotted to every pupil. (58)

The solution to rented buildings is “very problematic, but inevitable,” writes the municipal comptroller. She further adds, “Of course, these structures are not fit to be used as educational institutions, and except for minor adjustments, it is impossible to do much in this matter. In most of the schools and kindergartens that are located in rented buildings, the conditions are inferior and there are serious safety problems. Furthermore, double shift lessons and the set up of mobile units in various sites are temporary solutions, neither wanted nor satisfactory. The most natural and successful solution, but slower and longer, is to design and build standard schools, despite all the difficulties mentioned above.” (59)

The Coalition for the Advancement of Arab Education in Jerusalem, which was founded in order to address the shortage of classrooms in the educational system in East Jerusalem, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel pointed out that as long as the public school system is unable to absorb all the pupils in East Jerusalem, the State of Israel is obligated to pay the tuition of children attending private schools, and this obligation has even been recognized in the past by the Israeli High Court. (60)

It is important to stress the significance of some of the points that the municipal comptroller raised. The conditions of schools in rented buildings are not conducive to minimal level of learning. The implications of this are far reaching. From the visits we conducted in more than 15 schools between November 2005 and January 2006, emerges a very harsh picture. Nothing has changed since the comptroller’s report. The regulations of the Education Ministry state that a standard class has 20 to 40 pupils. (61) The standard classroom size is 49 sq. m. for elementary schools, and 53 for post-primary schools. (62) Clearly, the conditions as set by the Education Ministry do not exist in rented buildings. According to the comptroller’s report, in 2002 about 40% of the classrooms in East Jerusalem were substandard and that there were schools whose safety had never been inspected. (63)

We found a shortage of bathrooms, and bathrooms situated outside the building. Children had to wait in the cold and rain, and the water pressure in the bathrooms and drinking fountains (if there were any) was very low. In many schools, there is no playground. Around many buildings are strewn rubbish, broken cement blocks and sharp iron wires. The hallways and entrances to rooms are narrow; many rooms are without windows, or have windows without metal security grates. Most classrooms are very overcrowded, and in some cases, kitchens and bedrooms were converted into classrooms. It is not clear how one can leave the classrooms in the case of an emergency. In the case of a fire, all these buildings are liable to become firetraps. In some buildings the heating does not work, and the children remain with their coats on.

Overcrowded classrooms are on the rise in the past few years. Between 1989 and 2006 the number of pupils in public schools and unofficially recognized schools in East Jerusalem has grown by 185%, while the number of classrooms by only 166%. That is to say, the crowdedness of classrooms has grown by seven percent. (64)

According to the figures of Ir-Amim organization, between 2000 and 2005, 151 classrooms in public education in East Jerusalem were budgeted for construction. Yet the Education Ministry has figures for neither this budgeting nor actual construction. The Education Ministry claims that 300 classrooms were budgeted for the years 2000-2006, but it does not elaborate how many classrooms were actually built. Examining the Education Ministry figures, it emerges that only 32% of the contracts for construction of classrooms are at the advanced stages. Thus, it is possible to conclude that, up to now, out of the 245 classrooms as required by the High Court less than 100 classrooms have been built. (65)

Maysoun Hallaq, the principal of the Shuafat Girls School B, says that the JEA allocates her NIS 24 thousand a year for overhead costs. With this sum, she needs to run the school. There are no laboratories, no computers, and no art lessons. Until last year the municipality supplied hot meals, but this year Hallaq had to forgo them. There is nowhere to eat them, and reorganizing space wastes precious learning time. In any case, there is shortage of teaching hours. The inspector from the Education Ministry arrives from time to time to the school, but he is very limited. His position is defined as escorting, following up and training principals and teachers. All the other things are outside his competence. (66)

One of the heads of the Parents Association in East Jerusalem relates: “We reached a situation in which the High Court obligated the Education Ministry to build 245 additional classrooms. Four years have passed, and nothing has changed on the ground. The judges sometimes seem indifferent. The Education Ministry puts the responsibility on the JEA, and the JEA claims that it’s the fiscal responsibly of the Education Ministry, and, thus, the matter falls between two stools, at the expense of the children. There is a serious shortage on the ground. Beit Hanina and Shu’afat are considered as a continuous geographical entity. Today, there is one elementary school for boys in Beit Hanina; previously there was an elementary school and a junior high school, but the junior high school was transferred to the new senior high school. Every year the elementary school is immediately filled to capacity at the time of registration. They have filled the junior high classrooms with additional elementary school pupils. There is one elementary school for girls at Beit Hanina. It is located in four separate buildings distant from one another. 600 girls study there. Last year, the Ibn Khaldun high school for boys was launched. It is the only public high school in the area; 1,400 pupils study there. There is neither a junior high nor a senior high school for girls in Beit Hanina. At Shu’afat, there are two elementary schools for boys, and two for girls. One of the elementary schools for girls includes a junior high section. There is one high school for boys. The junior high for girls is unable to absorb all the elementary school pupils. This shortage has been going on for years. One of the boys’ elementary schools operates in semi-official building. The elementary school B for boys has two rented buildings; the elementary school A for girls has one main building and two rented buildings. The elementary school B for girls has a rented residential building. The shortage in Shu’afat results from the fact that many of the pupils come from the Shu’afat, Anata, Dakhiyat al-Salam and Ras Hamis refugee camps. In these places there are no public schools. Everybody comes to Shu’afat, and, thus, it creates pressure and on-site shortage.” (67)

Beside the question how a child can study in these conditions, it is worthwhile to consider the several risks children face when at school. Among Palestinian pupils in Israel (i.e. those having Israeli citizenship), the percentage of children who were hurt and required treatment from a paramedic or doctor was 63%. This is in contrast to 50.4% among Jewish pupils. In 2002, the percentage of Palestinian pupils who were treated in emergency rooms on account of serious injuries was higher than among Jewish students: 12.4% as opposed to 8.8%. (68) There are no figures for injuries in the educational system in East Jerusalem.

As a result of the shortage of classrooms, the JEA estimates that, in the current school year, 1,200 children from the Tsur Baher, Tel Sawahreh, and Silwan neighborhoods in East Jerusalem attend school in the afternoon. According to the municipal comptroller’s report, since 2003/2004 the number of children being taught in the second shift is greater than 1,300. (69)

Among opponents of double-shift system are teachers, principals, parents, and the pupils themselves. Pupils who attend school in the afternoon find themselves without anything to do till the beginning of their lessons. Working parents are unable to supervise their actions. The pupils have difficulty concentrating at these hours, especially on hot days, and the teachers are already exhausted from teaching in the morning shift. As a result, there are very high dropout rates, difficulties in mastering the material and a lack of concentration. Afternoon shifts bring about an increase in vandalism, violence, and danger for children wandering in the morning hours without supervision. The Education Ministry and JEA admit that the afternoon shift creates many problems.

More than 10,000 of the 65,000 children in all the educational institutions in East Jerusalem attend unofficially recognized schools. The Department of Unofficially Recognized Education in the Education Ministry is responsible for licensing these schools, and the criteria are identical to those required of official state schools. Unofficially recognized schools are funded by the Education Ministry according to the number of enrolled pupils (up to 85% of the tuition per pupil). The fundamental difference between public schools and unofficially recognized schools is that the latter are privately established and operated; most often, non-profit organizations run them. The Israeli Minister of Education may release the unofficial schools from rules and standards pertaining to curriculum, study conditions, and various financial matters.

As will be elaborated further on, this track allows the educational system to shirk responsibility for providing adequate educational institutions for residents of East Jerusalem and spending money.

In her report, the municipal comptroller strongly criticized the attitude of the municipality towards recognized institutions. She pointed out that the municipality cannot convert apartment buildings and houses into schools without proper approval. Conversion of buildings into schools is problematic even when it is carried out by a third party that receives support from the municipality (this is the case for an unofficially recognized school). (70)

Most of the “recognized” educational institutions (86%) were established between 2000 and 2006. The municipality claims that this allows and encourages private parties to open such institutions as an additional solution to the severe shortage of classrooms in the official municipal school systems. The municipality also brought this matter up in the High Court deliberations, all the while indicating that it preferred the official school system and considered private solutions as alternatives only when appropriate solutions were impossible to find. (71)

The hybrid solution of unofficially recognized schools allows the municipality to act through subcontractors who rent private buildings and operate educational institutions. Thus, the municipality saves millions of shekels that would otherwise be spent on planning, construction, rentals, and establishment of official schools. This privatization also allows them to shirk direct responsibility for these schools, with regard to both the curricula and the physical conditions.

According to the JEA, there are 21 unofficially recognized schools in East Jerusalem. Yet, the Department of Unofficially Recognized Education in the Education Ministry, which is solely responsible for licensing these schools, lists only 13 schools of this type. The above numbers notwithstanding, the Education Ministry list of official educational institutions, which appears on the Ministry’s web site, features 36 schools under the unofficially recognized status. (72)

Because the unofficially recognized schools belong to dozens of private organizations, they differ from one another in their capabilities and goals. It is thus difficult to treat them as a single entity. Some charge tuition; others do not. Classrooms are slightly less crowded than in the official schools, but the rate of crowdedness is immeasurably greater. The growth rate which includes crowdedness of classrooms (in public schools and unofficially recognized schools) is 0.4% per year. Yet the annual rate for unofficially recognized schools reaches 7.8%. According to these figures, the crowdedness of unofficially recognized schools will pass that of official schools by the year 2008. (73)

“This is a completely permeable market,” says Mahmoud Abu Khadar, the imam of Shuafat. “Schools are the most profitable businesses in East Jerusalem. There is no supervision of what is happening in them. Come here at nine in the morning and you will see children already wandering around outside the schools.”

A parent of a pupil attending an unofficially recognized school says, “There are clearly different levels here. I pay US$ 1,200 a year to send my child to school, and that does not include transportation, uniforms, after-school activities, and field trips. Consider what it would cost if I sent three children, and the school gets subsidies from the Education Ministry. There are unofficially recognized schools that do not take money, but their situation is like that of the public schools: there’s violence and neglect, and the children do not learn anything. I wouldn’t send my children there.” (74)

Parents of pupils attending unofficial schools have been protesting the inferior quality of education and difficult conditions for some time. Many of them fear being exposed. “There are no studies. Children simply come and sit in class,” says a parent about an unofficial high school that his son attends. (75) “We spoke with the administration, but all they want is money. That’s what interests them. Since the beginning of the year they have yet to find a physics teacher; there are no labs and not enough computers. The students do not trust the school administration. As such, it is impossible to study. Next year many parents want to send their children outside the village. Parents do n