In the shadow of war, school principals threaten to expel students and confiscate books in exchange for ‘admission fees’

Bethlehem - Ma'an - A number of parents complained about the threats of some government school principals in the West Bank governorates to expel their children from school and confiscate their textbooks if they do not pay school fees. One of the parents said that his son told him that the school principal threatened him and his other colleagues to confiscate the textbooks if they did not pay the financial dues, which amounted to about 50 shekels. Another guardian at a school in Bethlehem Governorate reported that some teachers insulted students who had not paid their registration fees, and threatened to expel them from school if they did not pay the next day. Please note that school fees are optional and not mandatory. The difficult economic conditions in the West Bank, in addition to the cessation of work for tens of thousands of workers, have caused many parents to be unable to pay the required school fees for their children. The West Bank has been suffering from extremely difficult economic condition s since October 7, after Israel prevented workers from entering Israel, and the Palestinian government and unions did not stand by them, which forced many of them to sell their home furniture in order to be able to feed their children. Many educators believe that the behavior of school principals is incomprehensible. Is it at the request of the education offices in the governorates or an individual act? They demanded that there be a clear position from the Ministry of Education regarding the threat of schools expelling students, especially in light of the difficult economic conditions, or to provide solutions to the issue of school fees, especially since there are those who have more than one student in schools. Source: Maan News Agency