By Maha Abdul Hady, IOL Palestine Correspondent

WEST BANK, June 8 (IslamOnline) - The number of high school students killed so far in the Palestinian occupied territories jumped to 211 since the start of the Intifada. Number of injured reached 2,500, in addition to 146 detained by Israeli occupation forces. 150 teachers were killed, 25 wounded, and 59 detained.

The figures were released by General Manager of the Palestinian Education Ministry, Abdul Rahman Awadallah, in an interview with IslamOnline Saturday, June 8, 2002.

With high school final exams around the corner, the Ministry of Education started evaluating the losses inflicted on the educational process, especially casualties among students and staff.

Awadallah asserted that more than “a thousand schools, in the Palestinian territories, were damaged. 102 of them are no longer valid to resume their job. Classes were stopped in 850 schools, due to oppressive measures taken by occupation troops,” citing roadblocks and military bases.

“The Ministry [of education], as well as all other Educational Directorates were totally damaged during the Israelis reoccupation of Ramallah. 150 soldiers swept into the Ministry building, destroyed computers, office tools and everything. The losses amounted to $ 2.5 in the Ramallah headquarters of the Ministry,” Awadallah said.

Gaza Center for Law and Rights recently issued a report stating that 33 - 24 students and 9 teachers - were killed during the latest Israeli full-scale aggression, started March 29. In addition, universities, institutes, and schools were closed, others turned into military bases, the report added.

Awadallah maintained that more than 29 thousand students have registered for High School (Secondary school) final exams, in the West Bank. As for Gaza Strip, the number reached 21,500.

“Exam halls, in the West Bank, number 280, nine of which are inside Israeli detention camps. In Gaza, there are 109 exam halls, three of which are inside occupation prisons,” Awadallah added.