We visited Palestinian schools in Beit Safafa and Sharafat. The school in Beit Safafa is under Israeli jurisdiction and has 1200 students in grades 1 - 6. There are 34 classes, so nearly 40 students per class.
The school in Sharafat is under Palestinian jurisdiction and has 160 students in grades 1 - 11. Maximum class size is 24. There are 21 staff in 3 buildings. One building has no playground or bathrooms, so students come to one of the other buildings to use the bathroom or playground. If more students want to come to school than the school can handle, they can't come. They have to stay home or find another school to attend.
Salaries for teachers in the Israeli schools start at 4500 shekels per month and reach 7,000 - 8,000 shekels after 10 years or so. Teachers in Palestinian schools start at 1500 shekels and reach 3,000 shekels after 20 years or so. The, exchange rate is 3 1/2 shekels per dollar so 1500 shekels is about $400.
This is a music class at the Israeli school for Palestinians. It is small class size because they don't have enough instruments to involve more students.
Thanks for this blog post, can you email me I am a reporter and I would be really keen to ask you a few questions. My email is kate@kateshuttleworth.com
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