Since the creation of the Ministry of Education (MoE), educational Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) have anxiously followed developments concerning their relations with the new authority. This article deals with the developments in this field.
Palestinian educational NGO's played an important role in countering the neglect and disruption of Palestinian education under Israeli Occupation. Until the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and its Ministry of Education, NGO's were the only instruments for preserving the integrity and quality of Palestinian education under the shadow of repression, censorship and neglect. It was the NGO's which protected the right to education, which formed lobbies to defend it, and which provided a channel for innovation, creativity and change in education.
In 1992, the approaching realization of an independent Palestinian education system encouraged a group of educational NGO's to form a Committee to coordinate their efforts. The Education NGO Coordinating Committee (ECC) aimed to act as a strong lobby for independent thought and informed innovation in the educational sphere. Work began with a discussion about views, purposes and methods of work which resulted in a unified policy statement articulating the strengths of educational NGO's, namely: their ability to complement and enrich the work of the government through their varied and long-term experience in the field and their wide-ranging diversity; their ability to link education with the community and cover areas the government does not reach; their ability to develop and experiment with innovative teaching method to serve as models; and the rich and varied dimension they can contribute to educational philosophy and planning through dialogue and experience.
Relations with the emerging authority were a focus of discussion within the ECC, and meetings were held with the Palestinian Council of Higher Education on the subject. NGO relations with the PNA became a prime concern after the signing of the Palestinian-Israeli Agreement of in Oslo, and after some NGO funding, organizations began to review their finance strategies in favor of the PNA> The broader NGO Coordinating Committee (CC), of which the Educational Network is a member, organizes the workshops and conferences, conducts research on NGO's, and issued a position paper (1) which was signed by more than sixty organizations. This document stresses the nature of NGO's in democratic societies; their complementary relationship to and independence from the state; the necessity of cooperation between NGO's and governments to ensure complementarity and avoid duplication; NGO's roles in monitoring government activity and their representation of marginalized and informal groups. It also points out the experience existing organizations can offer to a new government.
In addition, it published a legal appendix which deals with principles of democratic, constructive and positive relations between governments and NGO's. This document indicates the need for a basic law that guarantees freedom of formation and activities of NGO's, and safeguards them from restrictions (unless they hard public order and morality, which need to be defined as precisely as possible). The paper includes details concerning the definition, organization, registration, internal organization and financing of NGO's and request that existing NGO's be granted legality. (This in response to the statement of the deputy Minister of Social Affairs, Mr. Diyab 'Uyush, that "NGO's came to being under the unnatural circumstances of the Occupation, (which) are different from those of the present period. The reasons for the creation of some of these organizations are no longer present." (2)
IN response to the CC publication, the PNA's Palestinian Economic council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR) issued a document defining NGO's as those structures that offer community services of a civil nature complementary to, or in balance with the responsibilities of the state in various (. . .) fields without racial, religious or sexual discrimination and without profit purposes. NGO's must also pursue development or national activities and must not be an alternative to the authority. The PECDAR document indicates the conditions and mechanisms for registration of new and existing organizations. It stipulates that NGO's have the right to obtain support from foreign or local non-governmental, governmental and semi-governmental parties in coordination and agreement with the PNA, which can exempt NGO's from taxes if they submit financial reports. Coordination between the authority and NGO's is specified as the submission of detailed information on the aims, field, mechanisms, services, projects, as well as budgets and reports by the NGO to the authority, in return for government cooperation in the field concerned.
This document, as well as the fact that several Ministries announced that NGO's had to register with the authority (3) caused confusion. Several governmental parties require registration, although discussions among NGO's on the subject are still ongoing. The CC has asked all concerned organizations, including the authority, for a constructive dialogue to establish relations that ensure freedom of activity and development. So far, the authority has responded positively to this request.
In the educational field, the ECC met with the Minister and Deputy Minister of Education to discuss the relations between the MoE and the NGO's. The MoE asked the NGO's to submit suggestions for mechanisms of cooperation and coordination, and requested that NGO's give their feedback on the comprehensive strategy paper for education that is being drafted by the MoE. The ECC hopes such meetings will ensure cooperation, which is essential for a pluralistic, progressive and effective educational system relevant to the needs and aspirations of the Palestinian nation.
Elaine Clark
Educational Network, POB 66, Ramallah, West Bank
tel: 02 995 6230/fax: 02 995 6231 e-mail: eclark@ednet.birzeit.edu