Education in Jerusalem

Education in Jerusalem

Introduction:

Education is an essential pillar in Jerusalem. It contributes in building the
society, that’s why the occupation works hard to Judaize this sector and control it. Judaizing education leads to achieving the occupation’s goals and to the Judaization of the entire city of Jerusalem.

Education in Jerusalem During the Ottoman Rule:

The educational process during that time was divided into three stages:
1. Elementary stage
2. Adulthood stage
3. Preparatory stage

A detailed law for free obligatory education was enacted. The law provided for the need to establish an elementary school in every village, and a preparatory school in every village of more than 1000 inhabitants.
The law allowed opening private schools for the different religious groups. The Jerusalemites opened private schools and focused on the Islamic and national studies and the all the various types of science and knowledge.
At the end of the Ottoman rule, the academic years were 12.

Education in Jerusalem During the British Occupation:

The number of schools increased during this period from 100 schools in 1917 to 550 schools in 1947. At the end of the British time, 30% of the people were enrolled in schools. Despite the distinct development, the British occupation did not grant the Arab education its independence, although it did grant it for the Zionist education.

Education in Jerusalem between 1948-1967:

After 1948, Jerusalem was divided into two parts:
1-  The western part that was under the control of the Israeli occupation
2-  The eastern part that was under the rule of Jordan. It fell within the scope of the Jordanian education laws.

In 1950, the UNRWA was established. It provided education for refugee children for 9 years. 87% was the percentage of students in that period, and the number of schools increased noticeably. Also, according to the Jordanian law, the elementary and preparatory stages were obligatory.

Education in Jerusalem between 1967-1971:

After 1967, the eastern part of Jerusalem was under the control of the Zionist Entity. It repealed the application of the Jordanian education law in it, and closed the education office. Therefore, the public schools became under its control. It allowed private schools to manage their affairs, under a special control.
The Zionist Entity has tried to Judaize the educational sector in Jerusalem by adopting the Zionist curriculum. Yet, the Jerusalemites have united against this decision and refrained from sending their children to public schools. Private schools continued teaching the Jordanian curriculum, and after they became overcrowded, the idea of alternative schools has emerged.

Education in Jerusalem between 1971-1994:

During that time, the Jerusalemites resisted the Zionist Entity and its curriculum, until an “integrated curriculum” was created, which I a  combination of the Jordanian and Zionist curricula. It was taught in secondary schools, and had a negative impact on all of the students.

In 1973, the Jordanian curriculum was gradually being adopted. Yet, some
dangerous adjustments were made, like removing the word “Palestine” from the maps in human and history books, and using Hebrew names for places. Also, it imposed adding the “Hebrew Language” and “the State of Israel” courses to the curricula, and prevented importing books from the Arab countries.

Education in Jerusalem from 1994 until Now:

After the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, the Ministry of Education was established. It has administered education in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In Jerusalem, it has managed the Endowment schools only. The Jordanian curriculum has continued to be taught in the endowment department’s schools and the Palestinian private schools, in addition to the UNRWA schools east of Jerusalem.
The Zionist Entity removed the PA logo from the cover pages of all the books, and imposed teaching the Hebrew Language and the History of Israel courses in schools affiliated to it. As for the Ministry of Education, it has tried to support the teachers and schools east of Jerusalem, but its means remained limited compared with the needs of these schools.

The Adopted Curricula in Jerusalem’s Schools:

–  The Curricula in the Endowment Department’s Schools:
These schools continued to teach the Jordanian curriculum, from the time they were opened until creating the Palestinian curriculum.

–  The Curricula in Private Schools:
These schools teach the Palestinian curriculum, in addition to the Hebrew language, due to the conditional aid they take from the Zionist Entity.

– The Curricula in UNRWA Schools:
These schools refused to teach the Zionist curriculum and continued teaching the Jordanian curriculum until the Palestinian curriculum was
created.

–  The Curricula of Al-Ma’aref and the Municipal Schools:
They are schools affiliated to the Zionist Entity. They teach the “adjusted” Palestinian Curricula, and the two courses “the Hebrew Language” and “the History of Israel” has been imposed on them.

The Bodies Supervising Education in Jerusalem:

There are 4 different bodies that supervise schools in Jerusalem, and they are:
1. The Department of Islamic Endowments (Waqf):
It was connected with the Jordanian Ministry of Education until the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank. Officially, schools remained affiliated to the Department of Islamic Endowments. Later on, they became affiliated to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.

2. Community and Private Schools:
These schools depend on the school fees or the churches’ donations.
Most of these schools resort to the conditional aids given by the Zionist Entity.

3. UNRWA Schools:
They are schools affiliated to the UNRWA agency that is responsible for recruitment, payment of salaries, and schools’ requirements.
Recently, it started to suffer from low budgets and poor recourses.

4. Schools Affiliated to the Occupying Zionist Entity:
The Israeli Ministry of Education and the Zionist Municipality of Jerusalem share the supervision over these schools. The Israeli Ministry of Education supervises the elementary schools, while the Municipality of Jerusalem supervises the secondary ones.

The Challenges that the Educational Sector in Jerusalem Face:

1. The difficult economic, social, and human situation that the Jerusalemite students face:
These situations have direct and indirect impacts on the students.
They play a key role in their life, and force them to end their academic
life and enter the labour market.

2. The multiple bodies supervising education:
This leads to the absence of a source of reference to guide the educational process. This makes it easy for the occupation to interfere in the educational sector and introduce its Zionist schemes to it.

3. The shortage of classrooms and the rented buildings:
Schools in Jerusalem suffer from shortage of classrooms. This reflects badly on the students and leads to school drop-out.

4. The Military checkpoints and the Apartheid Wall:
This Apartheid Wall and the barriers lead to the derailment of the educational process in the City of Jerusalem. Some students are forced to leave their schools and complete their education in other schools.

5. The shortage in the teaching cadres:
Schools in Jerusalem, except those affiliated to the occupation, suffer from
severe shortage in the qualified teaching cadres. This is due to the low salaries, and the occupying authorities’ denial of entrance permits to be given to teachers.

The Judaization of Education:

It is the Occupying Entity’s attempt to impose its curricula on schools in Jerusalem. This aims at controlling the education sector
 The Occupation’s Practices to Judaize Education in Jerusalem:
– Obliterating the Arab and Islamic tracks and highlighting the Zionist
landmarks.
–  Imposing the teaching of the Israeli occupation’s courses in Jerusalem’s
schools.
–  Eliminating the concepts related to resistance, creed, and religion.
–  Removing the word “Palestine” and replacing it with “Israel”.
–  Replacing Arab terminology with Hebrew ones.
–  Increasing the restriction on the Arab schools.

 The Most Prominent Ongoing Judaization Practice:
The Zionist Entity opened registration for the academic year 2018-2019 by filling a misleading online application. This application allows the parents to choose between the Zionist and the Palestinian systems. Through this feature, they deceive the parents.

Conclusion:

The education sector is a major target for the Zionist Entity. It works hard to control it and Judaize and distort its curricula, as appropriate to its Zionist schemes. The occupation aims at changing the way the coming generations think, and distancing them from the cause of Al-Aqsa Mosque.