UNRWA Schools in Ain el Helweh Camp
Submitted by:
Karim Al Sayed and Nour Al Hoda Al Manayaa
Submitted to: Dr.
Zane Sinno
Date: 12/7/2017
English 203 Section 4
Palestinian Students in Ain El Helwe Camp
Education
is an important part in any child’s life in order to succeed in life and in the ideal case, the student goes through
the complete educational process. However in real life there are many cases
which limits the educational process, especially at the high school. War is one
of the most common and recently spread reasons. When there is a war in a
country many citizens take the decision of fleeing the country towards nearby
safer countries; a situation through which the citizens enter panic mode and
just grab what they can and leave without preparation. The ones that are most
affected by this are the youth, specifically those who were attending high
school. When a student leaves his/her country behind and becomes a refugee in
another country, school no longer becomes a priority and he/she lose the
urgency and interest of receiving a proper education as a result of all the
propaganda and chaos going on. This phenomenon is mostly recurrent in
underprivileged families that move into refugee camps. One of the most
important examples of that would the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon where
almost ten percent of the Lebanese population is now made up of Palestinian
refugees and about fifty three percent of that amount lives in refugee camps.
This great amount of refugees raised the UN’s attention that actually in turn
opened schools in Palestinian refugee camps called UNRWA (United Nations Relief
and Works Agency) schools so that these pupils get a chance of receiving proper
education in spite of the drastic conditions they are living through. But if
one has to look closely into those schools, he/she would find that they are not
providing proper education for
Palestinian refugees. That’s because these schools do not meet the proper
criteria of academic education; they need a lot of support and management so
that they can be qualified to graduate a generation that has proper and worthy
education.
Ain el
Helweh camp is the largest Palestinian camp in Lebanon, where more than hundred
thousand of Palestinian refugees live
just over 1 Kilometer square. There are about seven separated elementary
schools: 3 for boys & 4 for girls, and one mixed secondary school related
to UNRWA in this camp. Palestinian students are not allowed to attend most
Lebanese schools, so they have no choice other than being enrolled at UNRWA
schools in their camp or in Saida. UNRWA students in this camp are facing many
problems during their school years, especially in Ain el Helweh, preventing
many of them from entering the university or even pushing them to leave school
even at the age of 10 such as: corporal punishment at school, lack of
curriculum and extracurricular activities, grade repetition policy.
Automatic Promotion and Repetition policy
UNRWA schools
don’t meet the criteria of academic education, a major problem lies in the
UNRWA system which depends on the automatic promotion and the grade repetition
policy. Al-Haroub sheds the light on the automatic promotion that is applied to
students in elementary schools where failing students are automatically
advanced to the next grade thus, many students graduate from the elementary
school without being able to read or write neither English nor Arabic (2011).
For instance, A teacher in Ain Al Helweh
camp explained “I have a sixteen year-old boy [in my class] who is unable to
distinguish between the letters “d” and “b,” whilst the curriculum requires him
to analyze passages [in English language/literature]” (Al-Haroub, 2011, p.20).
This is leading to a serious issues in the middle school where such students
are not performing well in their class thus, they have one out of two choices:
either repeating the grade or dropping out from the school. Furthermore, middle
school grade repetition has a negative effect on sociological and emotional
levels of the student. For example many students prefer dropping out of the
school over repeating a grade or more, because they feel embarrassed to repeat
the grade with younger students who have smaller body sizes and different
mental abilities… When a student knows in advance that he/she will be promoted
regardless of whether he/she studies or not, this leads to apathy and weakens
[his/her] motivation to study. This is further evidence of UNRWA's failed
educational policy last year, despite the attempt by the head of the service to
persuade the Mahnaan to graduate at the Norwegian Institute (speaking at a
summer ranches on the southern coast of Beirut) that UNRWA's policy is
education and education in an attempt to make it an illusion.
Non-professional Teachers
Another
factor that makes the situation of UNRWA schools more complicated is the
presence of non-professional teachers. Many UNRWA teachers graduated from
Siblin Training Center (STC) which is not considered an university by the
ministry of education in Lebanon, such teachers start getting their experience
by teaching in UNRWA schools where they don’t know how to cope with the
students’ problems neither on the academic nor on the psychological level. At
the same time one cannot deny that there are some very good teachers, but they
are not able to give their best because of the lack of equipment in UNRWA
schools beside the huge class size. UNRWA tends to support students by applying
Remedial program, which is not working due to the large size remedial classes
(each class contains thirty to forty student) without taking into consideration
the differences in their abilities. Double shift schooling in UNRWA hinders the
organization of extracurricular activities and limits the time available to
teachers to undertake preparatory and administrative work within the school’s
premises. One more thing is that UNRWA schools in Ain Al Helweh camp have more
days off than any other school in Lebanon, due to the political situations in
the camp which in turn affects the performance of the teachers and students
there. There is lack of specialized teachers where there are only two or three
of them in each field of special education and they are responsible for
inclusive schooling in all UNRWA schools in Ain el Hilweh camp also, there is
one specialized counselor for all schools there (Al-Haroub, 2011, p.21). For
instance, a teacher may teach Biology, Physics, Chemistry at the same time or
he/she may teach certain subject one year and another different one the next
year.
The
catastrophe in UNRWA schools is related to English language, because most
English teachers are not qualified enough neither in their language nor in
their teaching techniques. Being graduated from UNRWA school, I can claim that
most of the English teachers use Arabic to discuss English lessons in class
where they program students’ minds to act like a translator just by memorizing
English words with their Arabic translation. Al-Haroub concluded that most
Palestinians enrolling in UNRWA schools encounter the challenge of acquiring
academic proficiency in English in general, teachers, parents and students find
the curriculum dense and difficult because the math and scientific subjects are
taught in English ( 2011). English language is the passport to be enrolled at a
good university in Lebanon or outside it and it is important even for jobs
later on, in the shadow of globalization, students are losing great
opportunities and scholarships because of their weak English. Thus, teachers,
who usually play the main role in developing students’ minds and confidence,
are destructing the students’ creativity and chances of success in the camp.
Corporal punishment
Dr. Anis
Al-Hroub said “Corporal punishment is a contentious issue in UNRWA schools in
Lebanon. Although it is entirely prohibited by UNRWA school policy, and serious
measures are taken when corporal punishment is reported, dropouts and parents
alike reported it often UNRWA officials are aware of this problem, and have
been addressing it as part of their educational reform process, including in
the recent human rights curriculum. Dropouts cited corporal punishment as the
most disliked aspect of their school experience” (2011, p.17). Many factors
ranging from poverty, to overcrowded living conditions to limited access to
higher education are facing people in the camp. UNRWA currently does not
provide psychosocial support to refugee children in these areas of operation
although students there are in need for such kind of support. Most students in
the camp are either orphans or from a family that lost one of its members or
its house, because of the conflicts between different Palestinian organizations
mainly Fatah Movement and Hamas in Ain Al Helweh. The camp is not well
established for education, one may find schools in front of the markets and
military offices… Also, not having counselors in an inappropriate area of
learning in the camp can be considered as a serious problem for the teachers,
students and parents.
Lack of equipment
One of the
most important components of education is the availability of modern or at
least up to date equipment and facilities in schools. Having proper facilities
such as labs in different scientific domains promote a more interactive way of
learning in which the student is more involved in the material he/she is
studying. Whether it be conducting learnt experiment in biology and chemistry
or testing a theory learnt in physics, having the proper labs and facilities
that provide the access to do so is a big part of the learning process that
promotes more interaction and hands-on experience from students. That is
something that UNRWA schools severely lack, meaning that they are missing an essential
part of the educational process which actually plays a role in the students
losing interest in what they are learning.
In addition
to lacking proper facilities, UNRWA schools lack basic learning material like
new desks and clean boards and playgrounds. Most classrooms in UNRWA schools
are tight, without proper ventilation and cooling systems, and filled with old
rundown desks. This absence of material actually leads to a less conductive
classroom in which students have more tendency of getting distracted, rather
than understanding what’s in front of them. Instead of focusing on the
teacher’s explanation, the student would focus more on the back pain induced
from the old chair, the heat or cold in the classroom in summer and winter, the
scribbles on his/her desk and many other things that could easily turn a
conducive learning atmosphere into a distractive playground in which the pupil
shows zero interest in what the teacher is saying. Therefore, the lack of
proper equipment and modern facilities has put UNRWA students one step behind
in the learning process.
Lack of Safety
Another
important factor in the educational process that UNRWA schools lack is safety
and stability. Safety while in school is considered a basic component of learning,
however, even this trivial necessity is not available in UNRWA schools. Refugee
camps, being the home of these schools, are the ones to blame for the absence
of this basic right for students. Refugee camps are known to be an unsafe place
where many forms of violence are abundantly present from small street robberies
to big armed conflicts, affecting the students and their learning immensely.
This violence getting into UNRWA schools has been seen on many occasions in
different camps in Lebanon. One important example would be the armed conflict
that happened in Nahr el Bared camp back in 2007. Although the students weren’t
directly affected since it happened to be a vacation time, the schools
themselves received a lot of damage and lost a substantial number of equipment
and material (UN relief agency, 2007, paragraph 1). Another important example
is the confrontation between gunmen and the Lebanese army in Ain el Helweh camp
early December 2016 when an armed individual entered one of the schools and asked
students to leave (UNRWA website, 2016, paragraph 5). Not only does this
endanger innocent students’ lives and causes the school to close to close for a
period of time, but it also causes students to lose focus and sometimes causes
dangerous trauma. Students in the camp have witnessed a life threatening event
at a very young age during school.
New Financial Policy
Considering
all these problems and hindrances standing against the educational process of
the students learning in UNRWA schools, one can conclude that an entire
generation is put at risk. Thousands of underprivileged children taking their
chance with education by joining these schools are having their future ruined.
Thus, it is necessary to find a solution to this. Of course, it is not possible
to solve it all considering that UNRWA schools after all are an international
effort by the UN an attempt to educate immigrants. Solving this entire problem
is a complicated task that requires a lot of money from many countries.
However, another solution proposes to take advantage of the current existing
money by implementing a smarter financial policy to make use of every dime
donated towards UNRWA. This financial policy consists of making better
decisions and directing the money towards providing a better education for the
students. Currently, the UN’s financial decisions regarding UNRWA schools is
mainly going towards opening as many schools as possible giving the priority to
quantity over quality (Al Mawed, personal interview, 2017). A smarter financial
policy would focus on resolving the current issues facing active UNRWA schools
before progressing and opening new ones (Omar, personal interview, 2017).
Especially considering that the new schools opening are usually in the same are
as old ones rendering them almost useless. It would make the schools more
productive by directing the money into solving their problems such as better
equipment, better teachers, a more reasonable system, and better security.
Furthermore, UNRWA
can also expand schools by adding two classes or more on each floor in each
school, and there are 8 schools inside Ain El Helweh camp and each school
consists of three floors (on average) which means that there will at least 48
new classes. Indeed, UNRWA may consider double shifting for students on their
different levels. For example, half of the students attend their classes in the
morning and the others in the evening for each school (whether elementary or
secondary). This would require more teachers, but still it’s clear that this is
cheaper than building new schools and bringing teachers.
Teachers and Counselors
One possible
useful reinvestment would be conducting training courses on curricula for their
current teachers to make them ready to benefit students as much as possible.
This method has actually proven to be successful in the year of 2008, the
European Union gave support to UNRWA schools and the British council provided
the English teachers an all UNRWA schools with effective training sessions and
workshops (Omar, personal interview, 2017). These training sessions and
workshops actually made a difference where the students that were taught by the
trained teachers were better in English and scored higher grades on the SAT.
However, this training process stopped due to lack of development and the
already trained teachers actually quit since they did not receive the proper
attention from the administration of UNRWA schools and no other teachers were
trained. A positive investment would be to restablish these training sessions
with the proper attention and follow up, especially for new teachers
considering that new teachers have the needed enthusiasm.
UNRWA can also
spend a portion of the money they have on bringing in new professional teachers
who are empowered in dealing with students.
UN can also
recruit counselors to cater for students in UNRWA schools, under the security
situation of Ain El Helweh camp. Students, especially in Ain El Helweh camp,
need support where they see the devastation and destruction on their way to
school every day due to the battles in this camp, beside weapons in military
offices near schools. If students have someone to support them, they will offer
their best and their talents will emerge.
Facilities
Another
efficient redirection of the money to accompany the improvement of teaching
level is buying new equipment and rehabilitating the run-down facilities at the
schools. The ruin equipment such as unstable desks, non-working air
conditioning, and busted old computers are obstacles standing in the way of the
educational process (as discussed in previous sections). These equipment need
to be completely replaced and some technology devices like computers and
projectors need updating. The comfortable desks and atmosphere in the classroom
would create a more receptive learning environment for the students.
In addition to
the broken material, the lack of certain facilities such as physics and
chemistry labs are also obstacles that present hardships in the students’
academic lives. The new found labs would
make students see the information in a clearer more concrete way, and the up to
date technology would give the students a feeling that they are involved in the
age of technology.
Putting money
into fixing such problems will not only improve the school experience for the
students and make learning easier for them, but also it does not cost a lot
considering the effective outcomes. The funding for such projects would indeed
be expensive, but only paid for once. These improvements will not only provide
better results on the students’ academic level, but they will also result in
more motivated teachers. Providing the teachers with all their needs for proper
teaching will facilitate their teaching process through which they have more
practical ways to deliver ideas to students. The teachers will do their job
more heartedly and in a more productive way so that they genuinely give it all
for their students. This increased productivity by the teachers and increased
receptivity from the students will result in much higher results since both
sides have evidently improved.
Moreover, in
the shadow of the financial crisis facing UNRWA foundation, some organizations
can assist UNRWA in its policy by concentrating on offering scholarships to
students from the camps who deserve it. They are offering scholarships to
reputed universities anyway but if they focus on camps, students there
will absolutely focus on their studies despite all the surrounding
conditions. For instance, I attended an UNRWA secondary school Ain Al Helweh
camp and I lost my father in one of the battles in the camp during my last year
in school, but I exerted a lot of effort to keep going on because I was
applying to Al Ghurair scholarship which I got after hard work. Besides,
Palestinian organizations, like: Nashit, may do workshops and free courses to develop students' mental and
emotional abilities and to help students to communicate better and enhance their
social skills. If such organizations promote their support to students in UNRWA
schools, there
will be a significant change in the future of UNRWA students and in the way
they think about it.
In the end,
UNRWA schools including students and teachers suffer from several problems,
affecting the educational level of the students. These problems are on several
levels, ranging from materialism as benches and chairs to the morale and
psychological state of students, and they need time to be solved. One logical
solution would be for UNRWA to adopt a new financial policy to better manage
its institutions, including schools. If the UNRWA spends its money on repairing
its current schools instead of building new identical ones, teachers would have
a better chance to give their best to graduate a well-educated generation. UNRWA must concentrate on quality not
quantity, they can graduate one hundred professional students rather than one
thousand who have no idea about what they taught or what they are going to do
in the future.
Resources:
Al-Haroub (2017). American University of Beirut. [online]
aub.edu.lb. Available at: http://aub.edu.lb.
Anon, (2007). UN relief agency. [online] Available at:
http://un.org .
Anon, (2016). [online] Available at: http://unrwa.org .
Omar, personal interview, November 19,2017
Al Mawed, personal interview, November 20,2017
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