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Palestinian Schools in Eastern Jerusalem Embrace Israeli Curriculum
(Ha'aretz) Or Kashti - The Alpha school in the Beit Hanina neighborhood is one of 32 schools built in eastern Jerusalem in recent years. Alpha was built with standards similar to Israeli schools. There are wide, well-lit corridors, large windows, a nice soccer field, labs, an impressive teachers' room and even a hall for parents' activities. Alpha opened in 2020 after an investment of $12.4 million from the Israel Education Ministry and the Jerusalem municipality. The 600 students in grades 1 to 8 study the Israeli curriculum. The change began from the bottom. It started with parents' demanding that their children study the Israeli curriculum to ensure them a better future. Some 13,000 students will study the program crafted and supervised by the ministry in the coming school year, compared with 5,000 five years ago. At the same time, 100,000 eastern Jerusalem students follow the Palestinian curriculum. Half of them go to private schools or schools run by Muslim organizations, churches or private NGOs. The number of eastern Jerusalem students at Israeli universities and colleges is no less significant. At Hebrew University, 710 such students will study this year, compared with 36 five years ago. The David Yellin, Hadassah and Azrieli colleges are also popular with Palestinian students.