Adalah Petitions Supreme Court Demanding Preschool Education for 300 Arab Bedouin Children in the Unrecognized Villages in the Naqab

Today, 24 April 2003, Adalah submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel demanding that the state provide free preschool education for Arab Bedouin children, citizens of Israel, aged three to four, in two unrecognized villages in the Naqab (Negev), Al Zaa'rura and Bir al Mashash.

The petition was submitted by Adalah Staff Attorney Morad El-Sana on behalf of 43 children from the two villages, the Regional Council for the Unrecognized Villages in the Naqab, a coalition of parents' committees in the Naqab, the Follow-up Committee for Arab Education, the Union of Arab Parents' Committees, the Negev Education Organization, and in Adalah's own name. The petition named as respondents Limor Livnat, Minister of Education; Amira Chaim, Director of the Ministry of Education, Southern District; Dalia Limor, Director of the Department of Preschool Education in the Naqab; Moshe Shohat, head of the Bedouin Education Authority; David Cohen, head of the Regional Committee for Planning and Building, Southern District; and Avraham Poraz, Minister of Interior.

There are over 300 children aged three to four living in Al Zaa'rura (population 2,756) and Bir al Mashash (population 882) without access to preschools. In 1999, then Minister of Education Yossi Sarid decided to begin implementing the Compulsory Education Law in towns and villages with poor socio-economic conditions, including certain unrecognized villages, thus providing access to preschool education. This decision was not fully implemented, however, as the Ministry of Education claimed that there was a lack of teachers. In addition, the Ministry of Interior refused to issue permits to build preschools in the unrecognized villages.

Adalah demanded that the state provide free preschool education for children in the two unrecognized villages, in accordance with amendment 16 (1984) to the Compulsory Education Law (1949) and the principle of equality. In the petition, Adalah described the generally poor state of education in the unrecognized Arab villages of the Naqab at all levels, and the impact of the lack of preschool education on children in these communities. Adalah argued that by failing to provide preschool education, the state is violating the children's right to education, and that budget constraints cannot be used as a justification for the state's failure to implement the law.

The refusal of the Ministry of Interior to issue permits for the construction of preschools also cannot be used as an excuse for failing to provide preschool education. Alternative structures can be used for holding preschool classes, Adalah contended.

Adalah asked the Court for a prompt hearing on the matter so that, in the event that the petition is accepted, the state may be able to organize preschool programs in time for the beginning of the next school year.