Education in the State of Palestine

Overview of education in Palestine

Education in the State of Palestine refers to the educational system in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which is administered by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education. Enrollment rates amongst Palestinians are relatively high by regional and global standards. According to a youth survey in 2003, 60% between the ages 10–24 indicated that education was their first priority. Youth literacy rate (the ages 15–24) was 98.2%, while the national literacy rate was 91.1% in 2006. The literacy rate ages 15 24 was 99.4% in 2016. Enrollment ratios for higher education were 45% in 2022. In 2016 Hanan Al Hroub was awarded the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize for her work in teaching children how to cope with violence. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) finds that Palestine is fulfilling 92.9% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income. HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Palestine's income level, the nation is achieving 91.0% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education and 94.9% for secondary education. In Palestine's education system, compulsory basic education includes Grades 1 to 10 and this is divided into the preparatory stage (Grades 1 to 4) and the empowerment stage (Grades 5 to 10). Secondary education (general secondary education and a few vocational secondary schools) covers Grades 11 and 12. In tertiary education, there are 11 universities (10 private and one public) and 11 technical colleges (4 Palestinian Authority, 2 UNRWA, 4 public and 1 private), all of which mainly offer four year courses. Additionally, there are 19 community colleges (1 Palestinian Authority, 9 public, 2 UNRWA, and 7 private) that mainly offer two year diploma courses in technical and commercial specializations. The first refugee camp schools for were established by the Red Cross in 1949. First UNRWA elementary six year schools begun in 1959–60 school year. UNRWA schools offer Grades 1 to 10 and do not provide secondary education (Grade 11 and 12). UNRWA's education provision has played a major role in Palestinian education since 1967. Even if students in Grade 1 to 3 do not achieve well, they are not to repeat a grade at that level by the ministry policy. However, students in Grades 4 to 12 are to repeat by the ministry regulations (maximum of 5 percent of a class cohort), which is based on the students' total average achievement score for a year. There is no remedial teaching for the students nominated to repeat during their repeated year.

A formal sector plan was not developed until five years after the creation of the MOEHE but this does not mean that planning was ignored until then. A formal five year plan was first discussed in 1998, and it took more than a year to prepare. UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) provided technical assistance in developing the plan, and the MOEHE set up two working teams; one focused on policy and another worked the details. Five Year Education Development Plan 2000–2005 had five goals: 1) to provide access to education for all children, 2) to improve the quality of education, 3) to develop formal and non formal education, 4) to develop management capacity in planning, administration, finance, and 5) to develop human resources across the education system. Education Development Strategic Plan (EDSP) 2008–2012 has four goals: 1) to increase access of school aged children and students of all education levels and improve the ability of the education system to retain them (Access), 2) to improve the quality of teaching and learning (Quality), 3) to develop the capacity for planning and management and to improve the financial and management systems used (Management), and 4) to realize a gradual conversion of the higher education sector from a supply oriented to a demand oriented sector, which will gradually guarantee more compatibility between higher education outputs and labor market(s) need from qualitatively and quantitatively (Relevance). Goal 1 to 3 is for pre school, general, non formal, higher education, and vocational education, and Goal 4 is only for higher education and vocational education.

In the preparatory stage, a total of 383,748 students (male 195,618 and female 188,130) were enrolled in schools during 2005/2006 school year. Among them, 238,500 students (62 percent of total) were in schools provided by Palestinian Authority, 109,419 students (29 percent) were in schools provided by UNRWA, and 35,829 students (9 percent) were in private schools. Gross enrollment ratios for preparatory stage are 80.4% for total, 80.4% for boys, and 80.4% for girls. The score for science test was 435 in 2003 and 404 in 2007.

Secondary education consists of two years, and includes an academic and a vocational program. (MOEHE 2005b) Students are able to select either of these programs, but their right to entry is based on successful completion of Grade 10 based on the results of their final assessments. The majority of the universities are non profit institutions. They combine fund raising with funding received from the Palestinian Authority. In Higher Education Institutions, 138,139 students were enrolled during the 2004/2005 academic year. Among them, 76,650 students (55% of total) were enrolled in universities, 46,453 students (34%) are enrolled in the distance education university, 6,034 students (4%) were enrolled in university colleges, and 9,002 students (7%) were enrolled in the community colleges. The male students share is greater than that of female students in the universities, open university and university colleges. On the other hand, the share of female students is greater in the community colleges. The MOEHE has developed a new student loan scheme for tertiary education. The objectives of this loan scheme are: 1) to create a sustainable resource that will assist students into the future, 2) to ensure that students understand their responsibility to share the cost of their education, 3) to provide a strong, streamlined repayment system that is easy and fair (repayments of loans must be collected from all students), and 4) to provide a collection mechanism that will ensure sustainability (a revolving fund). "Palestinian students wishing to obtain a doctorate must study either in Israel, or overseas." Starting in November 2017, around half of the foreign lecturers in Palestinian universities began to be informed that their residency visas would not be extended because they had been "living in the area for more than five years." In addition, their spouses were required to pay tens of thousands of shekels as guarantee that they would not work. There are five streams in school based vocational training: industrial, agricultural, commercial, hotel and home economics. Fifteen secondary industrial schools offer 17 specializations and 2,185 students are enrolled in 2004/05. All but three of these industrial schools are funded by government. Sixty four academic secondary schools offer commercial subjects and nearly 3,000 students are enrolled. The two hotel training schools are private. Total students enrollment for the five streams increased from around 3,000 in 1999/2000 to 5,561 in 2004/05. This is considerably lower than the MOEHE 2000–2005 target (9,000 students enrollment). This is partly because this type of training remains unpopular among most students and parents/guardians. UNRWA schools follow the curriculum of their host countries. This allows UNRWA pupils to progress to further education or employment holding locally recognised qualifications and fits with the sovereignty requirements of countries hosting refugees. In the 1960s, UNRWA schools became the first in the region to achieve full gender equality. Overcrowded classrooms containing 40 or even 50 pupils are common. Almost all of UNRWA's schools operate on a double shift – where two separate groups of pupils and teachers share the same buildings. Not all refugee children attend UNRWA schools. In Jordan and Syria children have full access to government schools and many attend those because they are close to where they live. UNRWA also operates eight vocational and technical training centres and three teacher training colleges that have places for around 6,200 students.

In 2022, the European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee condemned the Palestinian Authority (PA) for using EU funds to create school books containing violent and hateful content. The committee based its decisions on a 2021 report by IMPACT SE, which listed troubling references throughout all grades and subjects to anti Semitic content and imagery, hate speech, and incitement to violence, martyrdom, and jihad. According to the EU commissioned Georg Eckert Institute, Palestinian textbooks display anti Semitic narratives and glorify violence.