A Perspective .. Decision and Approval

The decision to increase the score of a Jerusalem student by five points in this year's Tawjihi exam has sparked not only a discussion about the logic behind such a decision, which is based on the special circumstances that the Jerusalem student experienced before and during the exam period due to measures taken by the occupying authority in the eastern part of Jerusalem, as confirmed by various United Nations resolutions, charters, and different international initiatives.

Initially, according to my understanding of the decision, it should be clarified that this increase is implemented by the registration offices in universities for Jerusalem students in schools located within the apartheid wall, and it is not added to the general average score in the grades report, which may help maintain the credibility of the exam results, both locally and internationally, as it leaves room for universities that can support this step by conducting an admission level exam, with a pledge from these universities after enforcing the decision regarding specializations that suffer from unemployment due to the lack of available job opportunities.

Reactions to this decision have varied; some welcomed it while others criticized it. Those who criticized it negatively relied on the assumption of creating a distinction between the residents of the occupied capital governorate and other governorates of the homeland (Jenin – specifically its camp), (Tulkarem – in its camps), (the residents of the northern and central Jordan Valley), and the southern governorates, due to the daily abuse they endure.

On the other hand, those who were pleased with the decision described it as good news and a blessed initiative that would instill hope and optimism in the hearts of students and their families (Jerusalem Community website 1/8/2025).

Personally, I have previously addressed the need for a bold initiative regarding the Tawjihi, relying on the constant increase in psychological anxiety levels, which students and their families face annually, and which exceeds the level of anxiety seen among mental patients in the 1950s, due to the ineffectiveness of the health system at that time, and today the failure of the existing educational system to appropriately handle the exceptional conditions faced by our people everywhere.

No one can deny the necessity to develop the general Tawjihi exam. In 2013, the then Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah initiated the formation of a committee to review the education system in effect, and I had the honor of being a member along with a group of educational specialists, with the Minister of Education at the time serving as the chair of the committee, which was subsequently chaired in turn by Her Excellency Minister Lamis Al-Alami, Her Excellency Minister Dr. Khawla Al-Shakhsheer, His Excellency Minister Dr. Ali Abu Zahri, followed by His Excellency Minister Dr. Sabri Siedam who changed its name to the National Education Committee, until His Excellency Minister Marwan Awartani who merely formed a small advisory committee from those around him, among its accomplishments was the cancellation of the project idea the Minister Siedam had adopted.

The work of the follow-up committee (2013-2016) focused on proposing practical suggestions for developing the existing Tawjihi exam, with subcommittees formed from the main committee. I had the honor to work with some colleagues in the small committee (Ms. Janet Mikhael, the late educator Ali Khalil Hamad, and Dr. Mai Al-Maghathi), where we conducted field visits and interviews with some international representations in Palestine, specifically those recognized for the development of education in all its forms, pathways, and levels. The committee was able to formulate recommendations after these interviews, the most prominent of which were:

1- The urgent necessity to develop the format of the school graduation exam, without settling for superficial changes: either the semester system exam, or maintaining the annual exam, deleting subjects from the curriculum before the academic year ends.

2- Dependence on a proportion of the grades from each educational stage in school (elementary, intermediate, and secondary) with a percentage assigned to the pilot exam that precedes the final general exam.

3- Adoption of a percentage from the final grade for the model of the field school project (agricultural, vocational, animal, commercial).

4- Adoption of a percentage from the final grade for voluntary work and contribution to community initiatives.
5- The remainder of the total grade (100%) for the final exam, with the necessity of consulting with universities and all higher education institutions in the homeland and those in some of the brotherly Arab states.

As I recall, when these recommendations were presented in a meeting attended by all members, the majority considered them a qualitative development and an outlet from the web of political crises imposed by the occupation during incursions into Palestinian Authority areas previously, and which may currently serve, with some amendments in the case of Gaza students during the first academic year of the war on October 7, 2023, and the reality of Jerusalem students today.

On 26/8/2021, after the results of the Tawjihi for the year 2020-2021 appeared, and the results were strange to the point of astonishment especially after the long strike of the teachers, and under the title "Tawjihi Results Between Shock and the Urge for Change" and with the participation of dozens of veteran educators from all parts of the occupied homeland, the Center for Educational Studies and Applications held a study day, where recommendations were formulated and submitted to the Minister of Education at the time, to which we found no response!!

Among these recommendations:

- The need to coordinate with the universities of our homeland regarding the Tawjihi with respect to holding admission exams and the possibility of conducting the exam in the halls of these universities.

- The necessity to reconsider educationally and psychologically the issue of distributing students to halls other than their schools, taking into account the two issues of reinforcing trust in their home school (and its staff and students), and starting to develop opportunities to benefit from the tremendous technological development, such as allowing students to take the exam electronically where possible.

- The need to strengthen joint cooperation with official and private institutions before and during the exam.

The author sees in this bold decision, if the universities commit to it, and after popular backing around it, a favorable opportunity towards:-

•   The necessity to form local popular councils to protect education, at all educational levels, composed of civil and popular institutions (after reactivating the majority of them), such as: the Union of Secondary Student Committees, the General Union of Palestinian Students, the General Union of Palestinian Teachers, the Union of Parents' Councils, and the General Union of Palestinian Women.... etc.

•   The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (through the Higher Education Council and the Quality Authority), should reconsider the criteria for continuing to grant licenses for establishing universities - higher education institutes, or educational specializations that our society is saturated with, and indeed a notable burden, due to the large number of unemployed graduates, and to replace them with needed vocational specializations (long-term professional courses or short-term courses which our society needs (auxiliary medical professions, agricultural professions, handicrafts ....)

•   The need for courage to confront cases of commodification of higher education, whether through the number of universities and higher education institutions which exceed those of the British and French universities compared to the population, and also the coordination with all higher education institutions regarding the specializations and the number of accepted students annually, the number of students in each department and putting a limit on the policy of parallel education, and a greater supervision on graduate studies programs..............etc.

•   Confronting some cases of research centers that operate openly, through their advertisements to conduct graduation research or sell certificates completing graduate studies, in exchange for advance payment from the victimized student.

•   Finally, there is much more to say, but unfortunately "there's water in the mouth."