EDUCATION

• Education is UNRWA's largest area of activity accounting for half its regular budget and two-thirds of its staff.

• In the 2005/2006 school year, UNRWA is providing basic, free education to 485,471 young Palestine refugees in 658 elementary and preparatory schools throughout its area of operations and in five secondary schools in Lebanon.

• The curriculum used is the same as that of the host governments/authorities. However the Agency also creates educational enrichment materials to supplement the local curriculum. One of UNRWA’s key programmes is aimed at the promotion of non-violent conflict resolution and human rights. These systematic efforts, which have included translations into Arabic of relevant textbooks, the creation of special manuals and the involvement of UNRWA pupils in cross-community summer camps, have reached every UNRWA school in the West Bank and Gaza and are to be expanded into other fields. The Agency’s work in this area has been praised by, among others, the Israeli delegation to the United Nations.

• 50 per cent of the pupils are female.

• Eight vocational and technical training centres with 5,431 places equip young refugees with marketable skills and a teacher training programme ensures sufficient qualified teachers for Agency schools.

• The university-level teacher training programme in Jordan, Lebanon and the West Bank has 1,200 in-service and pre-service trainees in 2005/2006 with additional in-service training being offered to 1,004 UNRWA teachers.

• To enhance opportunities for higher education for refugee youth, UNRWA continues to provide university scholarships to some 56 students annually. However, due to financial constraints, the Agency is no longer able to award new scholarships.