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Non formal education in Palestine
“Schools
for all”, schools are not restricted
to the achievers; all children have
individual needs that ought to be
met by the adults around them.
These are slogans which have been
raised by the educational
institution in the past ten years in
Palestine. Nonetheless, there is a
huge gap between the slogans and
reality on the grounds, the
differences are deep-rooted in
beliefs and practices and therefore
renders these slogans unrealistic
and impossible to attain.
Formal
settings of learning (schools) as is
the case in Palestine have
“inclusive education” to care for
the needs of children who are
outside the “mainstream”. The
program is inclusive but not
comprehensive It is not open for all
children and is not introduced in
all public schools. The aims of
inclusive education are noble but in
reality terms such as "special
needs", "learning disabled",
"handicapped", or even "gifted" may
still be used to describe children
within the inclusive environment.
The problem is that although these
terms are functional among
professionals, but within the day to
day experience of children and their
families such terms only serve to
segregate and discriminate and even
diminish our experience as human
beings.
Non formal education
on the other hand is about
'acknowledging the importance of
education, learning and training
which takes place outside recognized
educational institutions’. Its
programs are based on responding
to the needs of
disadvantaged groups. It is
concerned with specific groups of
people with a focus on clearly
defined purposes. It is flexible in
organization and methods.
If
we expect the school to provide all
that a child needs in a manner which
corresponds to her\his values,
abilities and potential then we
would be confronted with the fact
that many of our schools do not meet
these criteria. Obstacles
confronting the schools in
Palestine are both
subjective and objective.
Throughout the years
which the Israeli occupation
authorities were in control of our
educational system they were never
concerned in providing care for
children with special needs.
The Israeli
occupation authorities created a
number of official service
institutions. The purpose of these
institutions was not to provide care
to those with special needs inasmuch
has to deepen and strengthen the
roots of the Israeli presence in the
Palestinian territories.
Following the establishment of the
Palestinian National Authority (PNA)
in the self-rule areas in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, a number of
official and national institutions
were setup. The PNA assumed
responsibility for the education
sector in June 1994. Before the
arrival of the PNA, the education
sector covered only 60% of the needs
of the Palestinian students
financially and on the human
resource level. In order to improve
the quality of education and to
cover all levels of Palestinian
society and their needs in the
Palestinian territories, the
Palestinian Ministry of Education
laid down a five-year plan in the
end of 1997 and modified in 2001
till 2005. The five-year plan was
based on the following principles:
-
Education as a
human right
-
Education as the
basic component of citizenship
-
Education as a
tool for social and economic
development
-
Education as the basis for
social and moral values, and
democracy:
-
Education as a
continuous, renewable,
participatory process
In line
with these principles and with the
support of some donors the inclusive
education model was developed by the
ministry of education to accommodate
the special needs of children who do
not correspond to the mainstream
stereotypical criteria. In schools
where such a system was not
instituted, educational support
centres were initiated instead. The
model was excellent but the means
did not match the needs and
therefore it did not fulfil the
aspirations of the initiators. For
inclusion to achieve positive
results schools need to be prepared
to provide a diverse environment
which accommodates and celebrates
differences, and parents need to be
aware of the educational environment
best suited to aid their child in
successful, dignified and beneficial
integration. In schools, certain
requirements should be provided such
as small number of students in the
classroom, qualified teachers and
teacher assistants, educational
resources, accessibility and most
importantly belief among the
educational teams in the ministry
that integration is a merit and not
a disadvantage in society and
schools. Parents have to be
continuously involved in decisions
concerning the best interest of
their children.
On the
other hand the non- governmental
organizations played a major role by
networking with the Ministry of
Education to implement the five year
plan and to fill some of the gaps
which were unattended to by the
Ministry. Such gaps included
technical support for the teachers,
adaptation of curricula to fit the
needs of children with learning
disabilities. In addition to
developing models which could
provide alternatives to the models
of the Ministry. What is unique
in the NGO’s interventions are that
they were specifically targeting
children with special educational
needs through a non-normative
philosophy. The programs were not
prêt a porte but tailor made to suit
issues raised in classrooms.
In 1996 the
Palestinian Counseling Center (PCC)
started a non-formal education
program
designed to support
and completes the learning process
at the school.
The program is
intended to provide remedial
education complementary to the
school and is administered in the
afternoon, after the school day for
children with special learning
difficulties and/or experiencing
social and environmental
problems.
This project is based
on the unquestionable right of every
child to have access to education
that is compatible with his/her
abilities and cultural heritage.
It
provides a conceptual framework to
develop practical strategies for
both teaching and learning. In
essence, this program aims to create
a healthy environment where children
and youth are stimulated to learn,
through experimental and interactive
learning; where teachers from the
public schools participating in the
program are encouraged to use
alternative methods of teaching to
encourage children to learn and to
enjoy learning; to help promote
effective curriculum delivery and
efficient management of the system;
and to advocate and lobby for a more
diverse and improved education
system that focuses on quality
education for all.
The
PCC counsellors also work with the
children's parents in order to
enhance their awareness of their
children difficulties in learning, and
to
improve their
teaching skills and practices.
The
program targets children from 6-12
years of age in Jerusalem and Nablus,
who are selected by their teachers
and the counsellors at the center.
Small groups of 8-12 children with
similar problems convene for three
hours in an interactive session
twice a week. The PCC counsellor
and the school teacher jointly lead
the formerly prepared session. Each
session is followed by an evaluation
for further follow up concerning
each child. The intervention
mechanisms are:
-
Individual and
group intervention plans are set
in Arabic, arithmetic and life
skills
-
Utilization of
the resource room which has
computers, books, educational
aid facilities and others
materials.
-
Utilization of
computerized educational
interactive CD’s for language,
mathematics and life skills.
-
Recreational
activities and the use of the
expressive arts to facilitate
learning.
At the
start of the second Intifada and the
years which followed, the education
system was dramatically affected and
therefore priorities set by the
development agenda and the five-year
plan of the Ministry of Education
were changed . The political and
economic situation continues to pose
major challenges for the Ministry,
and for Palestinians in general.
Accordingly NGO’s like PCC have to
concert their efforts and step in to
provide needed support for the
ministry in ways which will not take
its place but compliments its
efforts and ensure the continuity
and quality of education for our
children
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