Mustafa Discusses with the Cooperation Foundation Supporting and Developing Education Programs and Orphan Care in Palestine

SadaNews - Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mustafa, today, Sunday, in his office in Ramallah, discussed with the Chairman of the Board of the Cooperation Foundation, Dr. Nabil Qudumi, and members of the board, enhancing partnership and cooperation in support and development of various joint programs, especially those related to education, health, and orphan care, in the presence of the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Amjad Barham, the Minister of Justice, Consultant Sharhabil Al-Za’in, the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, Dr. Dawas Dawas, and the Director of the Government Communication Center, Dr. Mohammad Abu Rab.

The Prime Minister praised the support provided by the Cooperation Foundation in various fields to bolster the steadfastness of citizens and its strategic orientations in supporting youth, innovation, and creating job opportunities, in addition to supporting civil society institutions and the sectors of education, health, and culture, stressing the necessity of enhancing cooperation and partnership to launch more programs.

For his part, Qudumi reviewed the main contributions and programs that the Cooperation Foundation is working on, whether in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, including the Nour Program for orphan care, which includes about 20,000 orphans in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Social Development, and programs to support the health sector in Gaza, in addition to educational support programs in the Gaza Strip despite the difficult circumstances, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, especially the (Esnad) program, which supports university students by securing about 15 million dollars to cover tuition fees for students in Gaza, helping the universities of the sector to continue online education by securing as much of their financial needs as possible, especially the salaries of academics and administrators.

In turn, Barham noted that the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with various partners, has managed to maintain the educational process in Gaza, despite the exceptional circumstances, for two years by establishing virtual schools for students in the sector, also opening a center to support electronic education, in addition to the ministry’s success in administering the General Secondary Education Examination for those born in 2005 and subsequently for those born in 2006, while it is expected that the General Secondary Education Examination for those born in 2007 will start tomorrow, Monday, previously, the ministry held the regular General Secondary Education Examination in about 37 countries where Palestinian students have exited from Gaza.

The Minister of Education added that the ministry, in cooperation with universities and the Cooperation Foundation, has made every effort to resume higher education in the Gaza Strip through electronic education means, and thousands of scholarships have been provided for students, in addition to covering part of the tuition fees for students from the sector enrolled in Egyptian universities prior to the war, while efforts are underway to secure additional financial resources for students from the Gaza Strip or the student loan fund in the West Bank.