Educational Sector Background in East Jerusalem

Following the occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, the Jordanian educational system (including the Jordanian curriculum) was implemented in all local schools. In 1971 The Israelis unsuccessfully attempted to impose Israeli curriculum in public schools under its jurisdiction. The number of students in those schools decreased, as most of them transferred to private schools that maintained the Jordanian curriculum. This resulted in re-implementing the Jordanian curriculum in all schools.





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In the summer of 1994 the Palestinian Authority was given authority over the education sector in the West Bank and Gaza. Nevertheless the administration of education in Jerusalem does not fall under one Palestinian umbrella but is under the supervision of five different bodies. The bodies and their functions are as follows:

  1. The Palestinian Ministry of Education which supervises public sector schools located in areas not annexed by Israel.
  2. The Islamic Waqf supervises schools of all levels.
  3. UNRWA supervises elementary schools for Palestinian refugees
  4. The Israeli Ministry of Education and the Jerusalem Municipality supervise elementary schools and secondary schools respectively
  5. Arab institutions and other private schools supervise schools at all levels from kindergartens to secondary education.

The Education sector suffers mainly from a lack of facilities which fails to meet the continuously growing number of students. The buildings used for schools are mostly old rented houses lacking essential educational facilities such as appropriate classrooms, playing grounds, laboratories, physical education facilities and other basic educational resources. The available classrooms are overcrowded and lack proper ventilation, thus do not provide a healthy or safe environment for students.

Another important problem facing the Education sector is the extremely low salaries offered to teachers as a result of the low financial capabilities of the schools in East Jerusalem. The high standards of living in Jerusalem produced by the high taxes imposed by Israel make it difficult for teachers to maintain this one job as their only source of income. This situation negatively impacts the performance of teachers as they begin to seek alternative sources of income to secure a better quality of life and thus are unable to dedicate the necessary time and attention to their students.

As a result, academic achievement has significantly declined in recent years and the drop-out rates are increasing.