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Al-Haq calls for UNESCO and the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene on
behalf of 854 Palestinian students held in Israeli detention centers, to be allowed to take their High
school exams Tawjihi. Forty-eight thousand students throughout the Palestinian territories are
currently sitting their public exams. Despite the strict closure that has been imposed on the
occupied territories by the Israeli authorities, the Palestinian Ministry of Education reports that
most students have been able to reach educational facilities in order to take their exams.
However, despite the best efforts of the Education Ministry, they have been unable to ensure that
the 854 students held in Israeli detention facilities will be given the opportunity to sit their exams.
The Ministry has applied for permits from the Israeli authorities to allow teachers to conduct the
exams in eleven halls designated for detainees. So far, the Ministry has not received a response
from the Israeli authorities. The Tawjihi is of particular important, because it is from the results of
these exams that determine students to inter to colleges and universities.
Article 94 of the Fourth Geneva Convention obliges an occupying power to ensure those held as
internees be given the opportunity to pursue their education. According to the article
..The
education of children and young people shall be ensured; they shall be allowed to attend schools
either within the place of internment or outside
By so far denying the students under detention
the opportunity to sit their exams, Israel is in breach of article 94 of the Convention.
In this light, Al-Haq calls on UNESCO and the International Committee of the Red Cross to
intervene on behalf of the students. |