846,000 West Bank Students Begin School Year Amid Gaza, Jerusalem Crises

West Bank, MINA – Around 846,000 male and female students in West Bank schools will begin the 2026/2027 academic year on Sunday, amid official preparations to provide the requirements of the educational process, at a time when Palestinian education in the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem faces extraordinary conditions and challenges related to the war and occupation measures, the Palestinian Information Center reports.

West Bank students are distributed across 2,537 government, private, and UNRWA schools, supervised by around 54,000 teachers. According to Ministry of Education data, government schools serve 634,294 students across 1,967 schools, private schools serve 163,787 students across 480 schools, and UNRWA schools serve 48,208 students across 90 schools.

The Ministry is implementing new projects to enhance infrastructure and increase school capacity, including building 17 schools, 183 classrooms, and facilities at a cost of approximately $19.5 million.

Three kindergartens are also being built at a cost of nearly $400,000, alongside two vocational education schools with an investment of around $6.5 million.

These projects are expected to provide enrollment opportunities for around 6,000 students. The ministry also completed maintenance and rehabilitation in 104 schools, benefiting around 25,000 students at a cost of $6.5 million.

The ministry is working to raise the share of industrial, vocational, and technical education, with plans to open more than 60 new units and convert a number of schools to vocational education, reaching around 20% of total school education.

In remote and Bedouin areas, four schools are being established within the “Challenge and Resilience” initiative to enhance student access to education in areas facing threats from occupation measures and settler attacks.

In the Gaza Strip, administrative and teaching staff begin work on September 16, while students join on September 19. The delay is due to technical, logistical, and weather-related reasons, as a large portion of students will receive their education in tents and caravans.

The educational plan targets around 541,000 students, including 100,000 in UNRWA schools.

The ministry is preparing to provide around 700 in-person educational points, alongside 25 temporary schools. Virtual schools will continue for students unable to reach educational points, targeting around 70,000 students inside Gaza and 20,000 outside, particularly in Egypt.

In Jerusalem Governorate, the academic year launches despite Israeli measures targeting schools, teachers, students, and Palestinian curricula.

According to Haaretz, more than 45,000 Palestinian students will study according to the Israeli curriculum, constituting around 38% of East Jerusalem students.

The governorate warned of the consequences on national and cultural identity, considering it part of a policy to replace the Palestinian curriculum with the Israeli narrative.

Occupation authorities also did not renew entry permits for a number of teachers in private schools, prompting school owners to suspend attendance starting September 1.[]

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)