UNICEF press release
Gaza, September 4, 2005

Mr. Dan Rohrmann, the Special Representative of the United Nations Children`s Fund (UNICEF), praised Palestinian pupils on the occasion of the beginning of the new scholastic year, emphasizing that Palestinian pupils always take the vanguard in their commitment.

In a press statement, Rohrmann expressed his sorrow as "some children will not start school as they have a right to and some older children will not return to school, many of whom will perhaps not see the inside of a classroom ever again."

He stressed the commitment of UNICEF to do painstaking efforts to ensure that all children could exercise their right to a quality education.

He also, emphasized that the Palestinian children were still keeping great enthusiasm for education, despite the very challenging circumstances they face.

Rohrmann added, that UNICEF showed readiness to address such issues through supporting the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in a wide range of issues, whether by improving the education quality or by catering to the didactic demands.

"In OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territories], just the act of reaching school is an ordeal and frequently very risky," he noted.

By the beginning of the new scholastic year, UNICEF is working at full stretch to boost the efforts of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in providing the children with psychological catalyst.

Mr. Rohrmann stressed that his organization would offer the didactic requirements to the pupils, and also, it would endeavor to ensure that pupils could carry on their education at home in case they were unable to reach their schools, until they could return to school and catch up with the other pupils.

Rohrmann drew attention that the self-learning worksheets of Mathematics, Arabic, English and Science subjects were met with much interest by the children and families, as well as the teachers, because they were considered complementary elements for the their scholastic books.

On the other hand, Mr. Rohrmann stated that Child-Friendly Schools initiative contributed towards making the school easier to children, whereas new ameliorative systems were being introduced to the school environments; alluding, that the steps of the amelioration included bettering the scholastic curricula, and the schools utilities, besides throwing special activities aiming to lessen the intensity of school violence.

The Special UNICEF Representative concluded his speech as saying, "UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) work together on the school rehabilitation efforts."
 
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