Issues in Arab Education: Thousands of Arab Students Threatened with Dropping Out Due to Lack of Digital Resources

SadaNews - The Committee for Following Up on Arab Education Issues has warned that thousands of Arab students are threatened with dropping out of education due to the Ministry of Education adopting a distance learning plan, per the directives of the Home Front. The committee acknowledged the necessity of safety and security and the priority of safeguarding the lives of students and educational staff.

The committee clarified in a statement that the resilience of Arab education during emergencies faces real and complex challenges, which do not only involve technical deficiencies but also extend to accumulated political, economic, and social crises.

It emphasized that the continuity of education and the provision of emotional support for students are non-negotiable objectives, noting that the psychological, social, and cultural resilience of students is linked to maintaining their individual and collective identities.

The committee asserted that the return to distance learning has once again revealed deep structural gaps in the preparedness of Arab education, bringing back to the forefront a chronic crisis that has not been addressed since the COVID-19 pandemic. It pointed out that it has repeatedly warned the Ministry of Education since the outbreak of the war more than two and a half years ago about the acute shortage of digital resources within the Arab community.

The committee criticized the criteria for distributing computers announced by the ministry following the first escalation against Iran, considering them narrow and limited only to those who were actually evacuated, ignoring tens of thousands of students in fragile situations, and without adopting fair criteria that consider the actual level of need, the number of students in the family, and the socio-economic status.

The committee revealed, based on data from a joint survey conducted over the past two years in partnership with the National Committee of Heads of Arab Local Authorities, that about 140,000 Arab students - nearly a quarter of all Arab students - lack digital resources for distance learning.

It also noted that tens of thousands of families do not have a single computer at home, and there is a significant portion of Arab local authorities that suffer from partial or nonexistent readiness for emergencies, in addition to a severe shortage of accompanying equipment and weak or nonexistent internet infrastructure, especially in the Negev and in unrecognized villages, where thousands of students lack electricity and regular internet connectivity.

The committee warned that merely announcing distance learning without addressing the root causes of the lack of resources and infrastructure will effectively deepen educational gaps, increase the risk of dropout, and undermine the right to education and equality.

The Committee for Following Up on Arab Education Issues called for the following:

1. Publishing transparent and updated data regarding the distribution of digital resources and the share of the Arab community.

2. Expanding eligibility criteria to include actual educational needs, rather than relying on standards that do not match the real needs of our students in the field.

3. Allocating urgent budgets for digital resources and infrastructure in Arab towns, particularly in the Negev, especially in unrecognized and disenfranchised villages.

4. Involving all representative bodies - the Committee for Following Up on Arab Education Issues, the National Parents Committee, and the National Committee of Heads of Arab Local Authorities - in the formulation, planning, and implementation of emergency and ongoing plans alike.

The committee concluded its statement by emphasizing that true resilience is not only measured by the provision of technical tools but also by the equitable distribution of resources and ensuring every student’s right to equal education and the protection of individual and collective identities under all circumstances.

Source: Arabs 48