BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

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Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2006-2007)
Refugee children registered with UNRWA have access to free elementary (six years) and preparatory
(three to four years) education. In Lebanon, UNRWA has also operated five secondary schools since 1993
because of limited access to public secondary education and the high cost of private secondary schooling. 53
The education programme follows the curricula of host governments in order to facilitate the transition
of UNRWA students to secondary and post-secondary level education provided by the state and private
schools and universities. UNRWA schools enjoy gender parity, and half of the pupils are girls. The Agency
offers special education for children with learning difficulties. 54 UNRWA also recently opened a tented
school, in co-operation with the UNHCR and UNICEF, for some 90 children stranded at al-Tanf border
crossing between Iraq and Syria. 55
Palestinian schoolgirls, ‘Aida Refugee camp, October 2006. © Anne Paq/Activestills
UNRWA also operates eight
training centres – four in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territory, two in Jordan, and one each in Lebanon
and Syria. These centres offer training in a variety of trades, as well as vocational and technical/semi-professional
courses in areas such as mechanics, construction, IT, interior design, paramedical training and commerce. A
limited number of scholarships, contingent on special funding, are offered for study at universities in Arab
countries.
Table 3.3: Percentage of Refugee Students in UNRWA, Government and Private Schools, 2003
Host Country UNRWA Government Private
Elementary
Jordan 61 34 5
Syria 78 21 1
Lebanon 84 5 11
Preparatory
Jordan 60 38 2
Syria 83 16 1
Lebanon 56 37 7
Secondary
Jordan – 97 3
Syria – 96 4
Lebanon 84 6 10
Source: Statistical Yearbook 2001/2002 No. 38. Amman: UNRWA Department of Education, 2003.
In 2006, UNRWA students
continued to achieve high pass rates
(94% at the elementary level and
95.5% at the preparatory level),
often out-performing students
in government schools. 56 For
decades, the UNRWA system has
had high retention rates and low
dropout rates, with the exception
of schools in Lebanon. 57 The
learning patterns and educational
achievements of children in the
Gaza Strip and Lebanon were
nevertheless affected during 2006
as a result of new or escalating
conflicts and humanitarian crises.