OPT / SCHOOLS

UNICEF and partners launch a back to school event for children in Area C of the OPT. Due to limitations on construction and expansion permits, at least 10,000 students are attending substandard schools and are housed in unsafe spaces. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:04
• Production Date: 30 September 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: EDUCATION; EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES; EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
• Geographic Subject: MIDDLE EAST
• MAMS Id: U100930f

Description

STORY: OPT / SCHOOLS
TRT: 2.04
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ARABIC/ NATS

DATELINE: 15 SEPTMEBER 2010, AREA C, OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

Shotlist

1. Med shot, student ringing school bell
2. Pan right, children in classroom
3. Various shots, students walking to school in Area C
4. Wide shot, children running across highway
5. Wide shot, children running to school
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Njood Mousa, 12 Year-old Student:
“I am scared to cross the highway because I don’t want to be hit by a car. If there are many cars, I return home.”
7. Pan left, Njood in school
8. Med shot, Njood in school
9. Various shots, children walking to school
10. Various shots, children in classroom
11. Pan right, houses in Area C
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Lamis Al Alami, Minister of Education and Higher Education:
“We want to highlight the challenges facing schools in Area C and we call upon international and diplomatic organizations to exert pressure on the Israeli Government.”
13. Wide shot, boy walking past trash
14. Various shots, makeshift living spaces
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ibrahim Abu Dahouk, Local Community Leader:
“We want our children to learn, and to live safely and peacefully. Our children have rights to education, health like other children of the world.”
16. Wide shot, teacher and children in classroom
17. Various shots, children paying on swing set at school
18. Tilt up, girl behind fence

Storyline

For many Palestinian students, returning to school is a happy occasion. But for the 75 students in Khan El Ahmar School in Area C of the West Bank, just getting there is an arduous experience.

Many have to walk long distances through unsafe regions to reach substandard and over-crowded classrooms.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Njood Mousa, 12 Year-old Student:
“I am scared to cross the highway because I don’t want to be hit by a car. If there are many cars, I return home.”
19.
Njood walks 25 kms to attend Khan Al Ahmar School, an ecologically-friendly school built by the Italian Cooperation two years ago.

Due to severe restrictions on building permits, some 10,000 students are compressed into 135 schools. There is inadequate water and sanitation facilities and the learning experiences of children are adversely affected.

But like many schools in the Israeli controlled Area C, Khan El Ahmar School is slated to be demolished.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Lamis Al Alami, Minister of Education and Higher Education:
“We want to highlight the challenges facing schools in Area C and we call upon international and diplomatic organizations to exert pressure on the Israeli Government.”

An additional burden on these children are the unsafe living conditions they endure, including tents, caravans, crude cement buildings, and tin shacks.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ibrahim Abu Dahouk, Local Community Leader:
“We want our children to learn, and to live safely and peacefully. Our children have rights to education, health like other children of the world.”

The road to a better future for these children resides not just in hope, but in action as their right to an education is being severely challenged.