Hamas calls for solving crisis in Ain al-Hilweh's schools, criticizes UNRWA

BEIRUT — Hamas in Lebanon distributed a memorandum to international legal, humanitarian, educational, and diplomatic institutions regarding the educational crisis in UNRWA schools in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, criticizing the agency’s leadership, the state-run National News Agency reported on Thursday.

The Palestinian organization said that the memorandum listed the most important educational problems, including the "closure of several UNRWA schools, the shutting down of classrooms, overcrowding with up to 50 students in some cases, the agency’s failure to maintain and rehabilitate schools damaged during the security events that took place in Ain al-Hilweh and the weakness of the curricula.”

The Palestinian movement's memorandum also outlined “solutions, including providing new schools, restoring damaged ones, halting the closure of classes, avoiding overcrowding in classrooms, and improving the quality of education.”

In the summer of 2023, deadly clashes broke out between Islamist factions and the nationalist Fatah movement in the camp, leaving a dozen people dead, hundreds displaced and causing extensive damage.

In September of the same year, the Palestinian belligerents agreed to a cease-fire. The camp's complex of schools lies on the front line between the various factions and had been occupied by fighters of different persuasions, even for months after the clashes.

Hamas added in the statement that “this memorandum is the outcome of a popular meeting held in the Ain al-Hilweh camp, which discussed the educational situation in the UNRWA schools, attended by representatives of Palestinian factions, popular committees, social institutions, activists from popular and youth movements, and educational specialists.”

The popular meeting warned of “the social risks resulting from UNRWA’s decisions, as the educational crisis leads to social, psychological, and economic problems borne by families and the community.”

Contacted by L'Orient Today, UNRWA said that despite the fact that its financial situation remaining highly uncertain, the agency "continues to provide essential services, including education to 34,000 children in 60 schools across the country."

Regarding the shutting down of classrooms and overcrowding, the agency said that it conducts every year a "verification exercise across its schools in Lebanon to ensure accurate student data and balanced class sizes."

"The most recent exercise showed that the total number of students across Lebanon decreased from 37,058 [projected] to 34,427 [actual]. Based on these figures, the Education Program adjusted some class sections in line with the approved class formation framework: a few class sections were closed where student numbers were lower than projected, while new sections were opened where needed", the agency added.

"These changes are part of UNRWA’s regular efforts to maintain quality and efficiency in its education system."