Although teaching is one of the few viable options for employment after graduation (due to limited economic development in the West Bank and Gaza Strip), being a teacher is not a very attractive prospect. Firstly, teachers' living conditions are very poor. Most teachers, and in particular those in government schools (1), receive salaries on which is scarcely possible to manage (4), especially in view of growing families an the high rate of inflation. Moreover, teachers often do not receive any fringe benefits. Secondly, the general neglect of education under Occupation mean a lack of materials and furniture, overcrowded classrooms, double shifts, heavy workloads and outdated, uninspiring methods and materials: part of the censored foreign curriculum. This neglect was also obvious in the lack of professional development for teachers. Since 1967 only UNRWA teachers and a few private schools have offered in-service training courses to their employees; government teachers were denied such opportunities. Thirdly, the military atmosphere in which education had to take place reduced concentration of both teachers and students and caused severe psychological pressure. School closures, curfews and strikes resulted in loss of school days. Students' involvement in the intifada lessened discipline and respect for teachers. Fourthly, under Israeli Occupation, teachers were prohibited from engagement in any political activity, participation in strikes or sit-ins, publication in the press, or signing any memoranda opposing the civil administration. Those who acted against these orders or even expressed a strong sense of Palestinian national or cultural identity in their teaching were dismissed or simply not appointed. This created a climate of fear and anxiety and acted as a strong disincentive to initiative or innovation.
Union activity was also outlawed during the Occupation. Despite the risks involved, a number of teachers continued to try to achieve union recognition, only to be faced with dismissal, harassment, arrest and imprisonment, and, in the case of the teachers' strike of 1979, en masse dismissal. Political parties played a crucial role in the formation of Teachers' Unions. UNRWA teachers had their own union, which included various factions. Private school teachers had regional unions with factional representation. Government teachers were not allowed to form unions but had committees which were often ruled by one particular faction. Some political factions had so-called 'teachers blocs.' Finally, there was the General Union of Palestinian Teachers (GUPT). This Union, established in Tunis, had branches in every country that employed Palestinian teachers. The role of politics in the unions resulted in factionalism, most obvious during elections (when parties would nominate teachers according to party interests) and in the factions'' use of the unions to serve their political agenda, at the expense of professional issues and independent unionists. The problem of factionalism was clearly articulated during the Teacher Union Workshops held in the West Bank in January 1994 by the Educational Network in cooperation with ABOP (General Union of Workers in Education, the Netherlands). Out of the may recommendations made, the most repeated concern was trade union unification moving away from factions and politics.
The second series of Trade Union Workshops, which was held in October and November in both the West Bank and Gaza, clearly showed that the transfer of educational authority to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) necessitates a revision of union priorities. The main concern voiced was the restructuring of the many Unions into an effective, representative and unified front, able to improve the professional and economic conditions of teachers. GUPT leaders, who recently returned from Tunis, have suggested that GUPT be that body, but many teachers feel reluctant due to GUPT's relation to the authorities an the historic lack of GUPT visibility in the Territories. The promise of elections does not lessen these concerns in view of the political affiliation of the GUPT membership. Participants suggested a large number of problematic areas with regards to Union structure, membership, sustainability and leadership and international union relations.
The PNA's offer to re-appoint teachers dismissed during the Occupation is positive in this respect, but many of the dismissed teachers spent long years outside the educational establishment and urgently need retraining. An unconditional return of these teachers to schools will result in lack of credibility of and respect for these teachers and will negatively affect education. How to improve teachers' living conditions and their professional development, and which mechanisms should be employed in negotiating such issues with a civil government is another crucial point on TU's agenda. Strikes, often the only option during the Occupation, now need to become a last resort. Moreover, teachers' close involvement with education justifies and necessitates their direct involvement in educational planning, reform and curricula design, as well as in educational needs assessment. The draft Palestinian labor law was also hotly debated and criticized during the workshops.
Teachers have entered a new era and are actually aware of the importance of education at this particular stage in Palestinian history. Willingness to work on building a better system is strong. Expectations of both the PNA and the Union movement are high.
On the problems of teachers and the educational sector see Education, Repression, Liberation, Palestinians, S. Graham Brown, published by the World University Service, London.
Elaine Clark
Educational Network, POB 66, Ramallah, West Bank
tel: 02 995 6230/fax: 02 995 6231 e-mail: eclark@ednet.birzeit.edu