UNRWA's ACHIEVEMENTS

• Access to free elementary and preparatory education for all Palestine refugee children;

• A school system with low repetition rates, low drop-out rates and high levels of academic achievement;

• Full gender equity since the 1960s, with 50.2 per cent of pupils being females in 2001/2002;

• 60,000 graduates from UNRWA's vocational and technical training centres, and some 17,000 from UNRWA pre-service teacher training centres and education science faculties by 2000;

• Established, in the West Bank in 1962, the first residential women's vocational training centre in the Middle East;

• University scholarships for thousands of young refugees.

UNRWA aims to give Palestine refugee pupils a basic education comparable to that provided in government schools in the region, so that they are on an equal footing in gaining access to educational and employment opportunities. Consequently, UNRWA schools use the same curricula and textbooks as the host government/Authority schools, and pupils sit, wherever applicable, for national exams at each stage of the education cycle.