...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

Palestinian schools in crisis: Israel’s to blame, of course. From The Muslim News (U.K.):

PNN: Despite numerous attempts by the Palestinian Authority to improve the educational system in Palestine, Israeli forces continue to impede the ability of teachers and students to attend schools.

The right of children to education is protected under international law, as stipulated by the Geneva Conventions.

During the last uprising, Israeli forces injured and detained countless students and teachers. This had a significant impact on the ability of schools to provide students with a continuous and regular education.

Global Convention on the Rights of the Child

“A child’s right to education became the most important right under international law in September 1990 when Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was enacted,” Intesar Hamdan, the Palestinian Teacher Creativity Center program director, said. “Article 28 says that primary education is a basic right for all children.”

She added: “Through the items contained in the Geneva Conventions, we can discern that a child’s right to education includes the right to enroll in school and receive a quality education. Students should learn basic skills that enable them to become active members of society and the state.” There are thousands of students, with Palestinians having one of the higher literacy rates world-wide.

Weakness in Ensuring a Child’s Right to Education

Palestine has participated in several international forums committed to ensuring the right to education for all children. However, Hamdan indicated Palestine’s weakness in the application of the law, noting an overall shortage of schools and classrooms. He stressed the need for the Ministry of Education to allocate a larger portion of their budget to schools and develop a strategy for ensuring advancement within the education system.

Violence in Schools

“When we talk about a safe learning environment, we are not only talking about schools and equipment,” Hamdan explained.

“Although some schools are suffering from a shortage of such material, we are really talking about schools’ psychological and social environment. The Ministry of Education prohibits the use of violence against children, but unfortunately violence exists in Palestinian schools. Violence is used by teachers against students, among students, and by students against teachers.”…

Maybe there’d be less violence if they stopped teaching the kids to be violent. And hateful. And genocidal.

Just a thought.

Update: And speaking of indoctrination, it doesn't occur only in Gaza and the West Bank. Here are the winning entries in the Canadian Arab Federation's essay competition; the CAF had challenged youngsters to write their thoughts about "ethnic cleansing in Palestine."

Posted by: scaramouche at 17:33 | link | comments (2)

Comments:

#1  09 July 2008 - 18:32

 

Well, Wahid, my son, let's look at your report card:

Jew-hatred? A.
Stonethrowing? B+
Burning hoop jumping? B+
Quran'ic recitation? B
Tunnel digging? B+
Mysogyny? C-

What??!! You'll never get anywhere believing that women are the equal of men, or that they should be given full opportunities in society. You've got to work harder at this next term, boy!"

Anonymous

#2  09 July 2008 - 18:52

 

Also--an A+ in the operation of heavy machinery.

scaramouche

Comments: