Aid Cut Imperils Palestinians Education

Unpaid Palestinians will not afford to send their kids back to their classrooms on September 2.

"This year I can't buy anything for my children, not uniforms, books or school equipment," Mohammed Abu Mur told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Wednesday, August 23, in crying voice.

Like many other Palestinian parents, the father of four has been unpaid for six months since the US and the EU froze aid to the PA, in a move seen by many as punishing the Palestinians for electing the resistance group Hamas to the helm of power.

"Uniform and shoe-wise they could still use those from last year, but the books," said the father of four with the new education term scheduled to begin on September 2.

"I don't know what to do," he lamented.

The new Palestinian education term is scheduled to begin on September 2.

Around 160,000 civil servants and security officers have not been paid for months because of the Western aid freeze.

Israel has also suspended the monthly payment of customs duties, worth more than 50 million dollars, it collects on behalf of the PA on goods that transit through its territory.

This is affecting the livelihoods of around one million people or a quarter of the population of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

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Hamam al-Faqawi, an English teacher at the Abdullah Abu Sitta school in Khan Yunis, said the Palestinians are no longer able to afford the school fees.

"Parents have to spend around 100 shekels (23 dollars) for their children's uniforms and shoes, and 100 shekels for books and school supplies. No one can do that," he noted.

"We are going to have to organize collections for those who cannot afford the uniforms, and for the books students can share.

"Last year, pupils without uniforms were ordered out of class. This year I can't do that," said the teacher.

Seeking to ease the burdens on the parents, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has reduced fees in state schools from the previous 60 shekels (14 dollars) to 20 shekels (4.5 dollars).

However, the fees are still too expensive for many Palestinians.

"The school fees, plus expenses comes to more than 1,500 shekels (340 dollars) this year," said Ziad Salman, a father of seven.

"Therefore I've had to make do with last year's uniforms and then I borrowed money."

A civil servant himself, he has only received one and a half month's salary since March -- around 680 dollars.

Aid freeze has not only blighted parents but also the education staff in state-run schools, who make up around a quarter of the 160,000 civil servants on the PA payroll.

The World Bank has warned that the West's aid cut would adversely impact at least 30 percent of the Palestinian population which is dependent on government salaries.

Unemployment stands at around 45 percent and the World Bank has estimated that two-thirds of the Gaza Strip population (1.4 million) lives under the poverty line, earning less than two dollars a day.

A UN report said on Monday, August 7, that more than 70 percent of the Gazans were now reliant on emergency assistance to meet daily food needs, while prices of essential goods had risen by between 15 and 33 percent.

Worst

Ali al-Farra, headmaster of Khan Yunis's Kamel Nasser Bey school, said that the situation has worsened since last year.

"People come and see me and complain about not being able to meet the costs of going back to school this year," he said.

"One pupil in two will experience difficulties in buying books, supplies and uniforms this year."

Palestinians are currently among the most educated in the Middle East with literacy estimated at around 92.3 percent and an education drop-out rate of only 0.9 percent.

"The worst thing is the effect on children's education and the risk that many parents will keep their children at home," said teacher Faqawi.

Abu Mur, the father of four, was equally fearful for the educational future of Palestinian kids.

"I fear for my children as well as the others," he said. "I'm frightened that they'll end up in the street."