III.
Plagues of Education in East Jerusalem Municipal Schools
A.
The Absence of clear standards for employment of school principals
At
present, the standards and procedures put by the Department of Arab
Education in Jerusalem Municipality, are like any other procedures taken
to appoint a principal for a school. The applicant for such a position
must have a first university degree as a minimum plus a diploma in
education with at least 5 years experience, and preferably he or she may
have attended a training course in this field (school management). In the
past, a qualification (a degree) was not a basic condition for appointing
school principals, so many people filled this position without having
obtained a first university degree. Still, some people who do not have
such an academic qualification have been appointed recently as
school
principals. It is rightly believed, and experience has proved that, if
senior officials in the Municipality (Department of Arab Education) were
interested in a person, then all the procedures including interviewing
applicants, would just be part of the process. They would eventually
appoint “their” own choice.
*
What procedures do they follow? Are there really conditions and standards?
If the
position of a schools principal becomes vacant, it will be advertised in
that school and in the newspapers. People who believe they are qualified
would apply for the post during a certain period of time as advertised.
Yet people are convinced that a certain person would always be selected
for the vacant post by senior officials in “the department”, and so in
many cases qualified people who deserve the position do not apply because
they know that sad fact.
Interviews
with school principals
The
PHRMG has met with 8 school principals in east Jerusalem, and asked them
how they were appointed by the Department of Arab Education in Jerusalem
Municipality. They said they were interviewed by a committee which
included: a representative from the Ministry of Education, A
representative from the Municipality , a representative from the Teachers’
Association, a representative
from the
Human Resources, director of the Department of Arab Education, and the
school inspector.
Five from
the eight principals had a B.A. degree, one a masters, one a diploma and
one a high school certificate (Tawjihi) and all of them had a long
experience in teaching.
We asked
the eight teachers how they were selected to fill in their positions as
school principals, and we had the following answers:
-
The most important factor in appointing the principals was the
qualification / the experience / the personality / the personal relations.
Only one principal said that his experience played the vital role in
deciding his selection, and one principal said his personal relations with
senior officials were decisive.
Another
female school principal complained that honesty and objectivity do not
play a major role in this process.
B.
System Structure
There are two major problems with the
structure of the education system in East Jerusalem. First is a lack of
proper vocational training, a direct violation of Article 26:1 of the
UDHR. Only Abd Allah Ibn al-Hussein Boys’ High School and al-Ma’mouniyeh
Girls’ High School have vocational training. Abd Allah Ibn al-Hussein
offers technical training to its eleventh and twelfth graders in six
different tracks, each accommodating between 12 to 15 students. In other
words, only 90 male students can pursue these tracks each year. The only
vocational training offered at al-Ma’mouniyeh is sewing, although they do
offer a commerce track in addition to the literary and science tracks.
Approximately 70 girls are registered in the sewing class while 156 girls
take the commerce track, a total of 226 girls. Headmistress Ghadir Nasr
al-Din of al-Ma’mouniyeh said that she would like sufficient means to
serve all of the girls who wish to pursue career education. She would
like to expand the scope of education to include courses in such subjects
as nursing and secretarial skills.
Photo 12: A student at al-Ma'mouniyeh Girls' High School practices sewing,
the only vocation offered to girls in East Jerusalem public schools. Only
al-Ma'mouniyeh Girls' High School and Abdallah Ibn al-Hussein Boys' High
School offer vocational training. Photographer Joel Sanders
Because of the unavailability of vocational training, many students who
are better suited for such training, and who have no desire to pursue an
academic education, remain in academic classes. This situation forces
already overcrowded schools to accommodate students who do not belong
there and contributes to the breakdown of discipline in the classrooms.
Shihadeh Tarami, principal of al-Rashidiyeh Boys’ High School, complained
at length that these students cause the majority of the discipline
problems and classroom distractions, consume valuable resources, and
interfere with the faculty’s efforts to educate deserving students.
Photo 13: Principal Shihada Tazami of al-Rashidiyeh Boys' High School in
East Jerusalem yells to a teacher through the window to control his
students, who run through the hallways. East Jerusalem schools face
discipline problems due to a lack of available vocational training.
Photographer Joel Sanders
Another problem that secondary schools face is the heterogeneity of
academic preparation provided by the various primary schools. Secondary
schools accept students from several preparatory schools across the city.
The administrators of the secondary schools have no control over primary
education, so students enter with highly diverse educational backgrounds.
Ghadir Nasr al-Din, and several of the teachers at al-Ma’mouniyeh, cited
this problem as the greatest challenge they face in educating their
pupils. They complained that many students suffer from a weak academic
background, especially in English, Arabic, and mathematics.
Photo 14: Students at Schmidt's Girls' College, an East Jerusalem private
school, show their discipline as they line up every morning at 8:15 before
entering their classrooms. Photographer Joel Sanders
Also, the system allows smaller secondary schools, such as Shu’fat Boys’
High School, to be more selective in accepting students because of limited
space. Meanwhile, schools like al-Rashidiyeh and al-Ma’mouniyeh, the
largest secondary schools, must accept all who apply, regardless of which
preparatory school they attended or their skill level. This selectivity
accounts for the greater success of Shu’fat Boys’ High School in the
matriculation examinations compared to al-Rashidiyeh. Since the smaller
schools are unable to accept all of the higher quality students, the
larger schools face the challenge of trying to offer a high level of
education when a large portion of the student body is less academically
endowed.
Photo 15: Many classroom walls in East Jerusalem, like this one at
al-Rashidiyeh Boys' High School, are covered in graffiti. Photographer
Joel Sanders
The Average Classroom
The average classrooms in Palestinian schools do not
provide a proper atmosphere for learning. They are simple rooms, painted
green, with a chalkboard in the front of the room, fenced in windows, and
several small green tables. Many have holes in the plaster, and some do
not even have doors. Most classrooms have inadequate lighting. Although
some schools are well decorated, classrooms in many schools have few, if
any, visual aids hanging on the walls. The atmosphere fails to engage the
students in the learning process. Often, the only decor covering the
walls is graffiti drawn by students.
Photo 16: Average classrooms in East Jerusalem, like this one at
al-Ma'mouniyeh Girls' High School, are overcrowded and lack a stimulating
learning environment. Photographer Joel Sanders
These classrooms are often overcrowded due to the need to absorb as many
students as possible. Most schools report having an average of 35-40
students per class, and many classes have over 40 students.
Photo 17: Classrooms at Zalman Aran Elementary are spacious, stimulating,
and arranged for either independent or group study. Photographer Evan
Weiss
In West
Jerusalem, the average classroom is spacious and well lit. At Zalman
Aran, classroom walls are colorful and the desks are arranged to
accommodate both independent and group study. The overall atmosphere of
the school supports and encourages education and learning.
The Shortage of Classroom
East Jerusalem suffers from a general shortage of classrooms. At the same
time, the student-aged population continues to grow. About one in every
three eligible students is not registered in East Jerusalem schools. For
those who are enrolled in the public school system, there is insufficient
classroom space to accommodate them. This lack of space has led to the
use of rented facilities and converted classrooms.
Photo 18: The entranceway to a rented building at Ahmed Sameh al-Khaldy
Boys' School. Many East Jerusalem schools rent homes to use for classroom
space. Graffiti on the walls reads, "Ahmed Sameh al-Khaldy School/Love the
school." Photographer Joel Sanders
Perhaps the greatest travesty in East Jerusalem public schools is that of
rented classrooms. To compensate for the classroom shortage, the State of
Israel rents space in apartment buildings and houses. According to Avi
Sela’a, “40 or more percent of the classes are in rented houses.”[i]
These buildings are woefully inadequate for educational purposes. Primary
schools generally consist of three or four buildings – one central school
building and several rented apartments or homes.
Rented facilities are severely overcrowded. Because these rooms tend to
be smaller than an average classroom, administrators assign younger
students to them. These children are smaller, so that an average size
class can fit into a less than average size classroom. Usually these
rooms cannot hold more than 22 to 25 elementary students. Nonetheless,
often 30 or more students are crammed into a room about the size of a
typical bedroom, perhaps 4 by 5 meters
One example of such facilities is al-Essawiyeh Girls’ elementary school.[ii]
The school is comprised of four buildings, one central building and three
rented. The building for grades one and two is located on the first floor
of an apartment building, with eight small rooms. Six of the classrooms
are about the size of a bedroom and the other two are enclosed verandahs.
Each of them serves approximately 30 students. The students sit three to
a table. They are so cramped that if they want to go to the blackboard or
to the bathroom, students must climb onto the table to get to the aisle.
They often scrape themselves or hit their heads in the process. The
students sit literally wall to wall. Also, teachers cannot open all of
the windows because they open into the room and will hit one of the girls
in the head.
Photo 19: (a) and (b) Classrooms at al-Essawiyeh Boys' School and Ahmed
Sameh al-Khaldy Boys' School in rented apartments. (c) and (d) A classroom
at al-Essawiyeh Girls' School in an enclosed verandah in rented apartment.
Rented space used as classrooms in East Jerusalem suffer from severe
overcrowding. Photographer Joel Sanders
Photo 19 (b)
Photo 19 (c)
Photo 19 (d)
A similar example is that of al-Essawiyeh Boys’ elementary school.[iii]
One of the third grade classes consists of 33 students crammed into an
enclosed verandah, about three by four meters. There are only nine desks,
so they sit as many as four students to a table.
Rented facilities also have poor sanitation and ventilation. Bathrooms
and drinking fountains are old fashioned and unsanitary. Toilets usually
consist of a porcelain hole in the floor, unsanitary even when clean. If
there is a toilet bowl, it often lacks a toilet seat. At Ahmad Sameh
al-Khaldi Boys’ School, one of the four buildings comprising the school is
a large house. The bathroom in this building consists of three toilet
stalls, all of them of the porcelain, hole-in-the-floor variety. One of
the stalls is for the teachers while the other two stalls serve about 200
students.
Photo 20: (above) An average toilet in East Jerusalem schools. (below) An
average toilet in West Jerusalem schools.
The drinking fountains and sinks generally have poor sanitary conditions
as well. The building at al-Essawiyeh Girls’ School discussed above only
has one sink for all 240 students. Most of the girls cannot reach the
faucet and must climb onto the sink. Teachers there expressed concern
that in winter, students continuously have problems because they tend to
get their sleeves wet when stretching to reach the faucet. At other
schools, like Ahmed Sameh al-Khaldy, drinking fountains are rusted and
filthy.
Photo 21: A bathroom at Ahmed Sameh al-Khaldy Boys' School in East
Jerusalem has three stalls, one for teachers and two for 200 students.
Students in East Jerusalem rented facilities are exposed to unsanitary
conditions. Photographer Joel Sanders
On
May 10, 2000, Mash-hour Ali Abu-Rmeileh, a student at Ahmed Sameh
al-Khaldy, died from bacterial meningitis. While his death was in no way
connected to sanitary conditions in the schools, the circumstances
surrounding his death brought attention to the manner in which the
Ministry of Health and the Jerusalem Municipality manage health conditions
in East Jerusalem. On May 11, the Pupils’ Parents Council for Ahmed Sameh
al-Khaldy Boys’ School and Abu Tur Girls’ School called a general strike
“in a protest against the carelessness regarding the health situation of
the pupils in the schools.”[iv]
Parents kept their children out of school for three days hoping to draw
attention to the schools’ poor sanitary conditions.
Photo 22: A drinking fountain at Ahmed Sameh al-Khaldy Boys' School in
East Jerusalem is rusty and filthy. Photographer Joel Sanders
Sanitary conditions in West Jerusalem, on the other hand, are very good.
Bathrooms and water fountains are clean and pleasant. One bathroom at
Zalman Aran even has artwork hanging on the walls
Photo 23: Parents kept students at Ahmed Sameh al-Khaldy Boys' School
(seen here) and Abu Tur Girls' School out of school for three days in
protest of poor sanitary conditions. Photographer Joel Sanders
The ventilation in rented buildings is also wholly insufficient. The
windows are small and few in number. Upon entering the apartment building
used for grades one through three of al-Essawiyeh Boys’ School, the stench
of urine is overwhelming. In addition, students suffer from extreme
summer heat and winter cold, since none of these buildings are heated or
air conditioned. Meanwhile, at Gymnasia School in West Jerusalem, because
classrooms got cold in the winter due to high ceilings, a heating system
was installed five years ago.
Photo 24: Beyond the window to this rented classroom at al-Essawiyeh
Girls' School in East Jerusalem is the entrance to a neighboring home.
Neighbors and Neighborhood conditions can interfere with the learning
process. Photographer Joel Sanders
In one apartment building in Essawiyeh, the boys’ school occupies the
bottom floor, the girls’ school occupies the second floor, and the top
floor functions as an apartment. Other buildings are directly adjacent to
neighboring apartments. Students can see their neighbors come and go,
hear their music, and smell their cooking. At a rented classroom at
al-Essawiyeh Girls’ School there is a narrow walkway outside a broken
classroom window. Blocking the walkway is a pile of trash in which rats
and cockroaches live and breed.
Photo 25: (a), (b), (c) and (d) Two classrooms at Ahmed Sameh al-Khaldy
Boys' School in a rented apartment. (e) A classroom at al-Essawiyeh Boys'
School in a rented apartment. Rented classrooms suffer from structural
dilapidation. Photographer Joel Sanders
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Many classrooms have windows with broken frames and walls with holes in
the plaster. Classrooms frequently have no doors. Teachers at Ahmad
Sameh al-Khaldi complained about broken desks and chairs. A run-down
kitchen at al-Essawiyeh girls school, serving as the teachers’ lounge, has
a hole just beneath the ceiling. It is so large that the assistant
principal joked about throwing teachers into it if they complain too much
or get out of line.
In contrast, Irit Basset, Administrative Director of Gymnasia in West
Jerusalem, complained that her school is old and has poor infrastructure,
making upkeep difficult. The walls often have holes in the plaster. But
at Gymnasia the money is spent to repair them.
Photo 26: Bomb shelters in East Jerusalem function as subterranean
classrooms, like this classroom at al-Essawiyeh Girls' School.
Photographer Joel Sanders
A teacher at Ahmed Sameh al-Khaldy School summed up the conditions in
rented facilities quite eloquently. As we stood on a balcony, looking
over a view of Jerusalem’s Old City and the Dome of the Rock, he commented
sullenly, “See the beautiful view? Only the view.”
In addition to rented rooms, there are converted classrooms. Schools
convert laboratories, libraries and other such facilities into classrooms
to create sufficient space for the increasing number of students. This
problem affects all levels of education, from elementary through secondary
schools. However it is more prevalent in secondary schools, where there
should be more diverse facilities to accommodate higher education. Rooms
previously devoted to teaching research techniques now serve as standard
classrooms.
Photo 27: Many computer labs, science labs and libraries in East Jerusalem
are converted into classrooms, like this one at Shu'fat Boys' High School.
The electrical outlets remain as a reminder of the computer laboratory
that was once there. Photographer Joel Sanders
When the need arises to convert rooms into classroom space, schools
usually begin with their bomb shelters. These rooms have no academic
value otherwise, and schools can convert them without sacrificing other,
more substantial facilities. At al-Essawiyeh Girls’ School, even in the
main building, where conditions are far superior to rented facilities,
they still need to use the bomb shelter for classroom space. A sixth
grade class of 28 girls spends the day in a musty, subterranean
classroom. They have only one small window for ventilation. The lack of
fresh air and natural light makes the room dreary and inhospitable.
Photo 28: Computers at Shu'fat Boys' High School remain in storage.
Photographer Joel Sanders
In other schools the problem is even more severe. At Shu’fat Boy’s High
School, administrators converted not only the bomb shelter, but also the
science laboratory, computer laboratory and the teachers’ lounge into
classrooms. Principal Aziz Da’is has been fighting to keep the library
from being converted as well. The science laboratory materials sit in
display cabinets in the otherwise barren front hallway. The computers
remain stacked inside a dusty closet in the bomb shelter.
Even
when rooms are not converted into classrooms, administrators often must
make sacrifices to provide facilities they deem most important. Sur Baher
Boys’ Preparatory School reported having to eliminate their library to
make room for a new computer laboratory with 73 computers. They still
possess the 15,000 books from the library but have no room in which to put
them. Again, this calls into question the distribution of resources in
East Jerusalem schools. Many schools have no library, computer
laboratory, or science laboratory, yet schools like Sur Baher and Shu’fat
have materials such as books, computers and laboratory equipment sitting
in storage, unused and unusable.
[i]
Interview with Avi Selaá, May 1, 2000.
[ii]
Visit to al-Essawiyeh Girls School conducted on April 16, 2000.
[iii]
Visit to al-Essawiyeh Boys’ School conducted on April 22, 2000.
[iv]
Kawasmi, Muna. “Pupils of Two Schools in Jerusalem Refuse to Attend
Classes in Protest Against the Carelessness of the Municipality and
Health Department.” Al-Quds daily Arabic newspaper, Jerusalem, May
12, 2000.
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