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Press Release
PCHR calls upon the PNA to free poor students from school fees
Ref: 53/2001
Date: 19 September 2001
PCHR is deeply concerned about annual school fees set by the Ministry of Education that undermine the right of children to free education and diminish the possibilities for such children to be able to contribute to the future development of Palestinian society. PCHR calls upon the Palestinian National Authority, through the Ministry of Education, to absorb poor students who are not able to pay school fees in various levels of education, and to enable them to exercise the right to education like other students. PCHR also warns of the consequences of dismissing those students from their schools on the ground of not paying school fees, which may lead to a phenomenon of large number of children dropping out of school.
According to information gathered by PCHR’s staff, administrators at some government-run schools in the Gaza Strip have threatened to dismiss students whose guardians are not able to pay their school fees. Those students were also barred from receiving schoolbooks distributed by the Ministry of Education, and sometimes they were denied entry into classrooms. It appears that most of these students are members of families that have been subject to abuses by Israeli occupation forces, and had suffered losses of income since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada on September 28, 2000. These families live under the poverty line and are thus unable to fulfill their financial obligations towards their children, including the payment of school fees.
PCHR recognizes the financial challenges faced by the PNA during the Intifada, and the large human and material resources that require providing necessary services such as health, education and social insurance, for Palestinian victims of Israeli abuses. PCHR hopes that efforts will be made to make use of available financial resources to ensure that citizens enjoy their economic, social, and cultural rights.
PCHR calls upon the PNA to fulfill its obligations towards the respect and promotion of the right to education and to make sure that it is enjoyed without any discrimination on the grounds of social background or wealth. PCHR also asserts the necessity of adhering to international human rights standards, including the right of all to education. PCHR would like to draw the attention to the necessity of unequivocally adopting the principle of free education, in order not to enable anyone to impose school fees.
PCHR calls upon the local community, through NGOs, to contribute to the provision of educational opportunities for all Palestinians, especially those living under the current total siege imposed on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which has had disastrous impacts on the economic and living conditions of the people.
Enjoying the right to education is essential to the full development and dignity of human beings, which helps citizens contribute to the development of their society, and raises feelings of national and social responsibility. It also saves many expenditures that the state would otherwise have to pay in the long term to rehabilitate children who were denied education on account of being unable to pay school fees.
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