Preschool Children from Unrecognized Village of Wadi Jaraba in the Naqab Wait Two Hours for School Bus Every Day, Fully Exposed to the Sun
On 11 September 2008, Adalah send an urgent letter to the director of the transportation section in the Ministry of Education and the head of the education department in the Abu Basma Regional Council, demanding that they provide a special school bus for preschool childrenfrom the unrecognized village of Wadi Jaraba in the Naqab (Negev), separately from primary and secondary school children. The children attend preschool in the neighboring village of Qasr al-Sirr.
In the letter, Adalah Attorney Morad el-Sana stated that the preschool children, who finish their school day at 12:30 in the afternoon, are forced to wait two hours for a bus that leaves at 2:30 p.m., fully exposed to the harsh afternoon sun and without any supervision or protection from health-related or other dangers.
Attorney el-Sana argued that forcing the preschool children to travel together with primary and secondary school children contradicts the Ministry of Education’s own directives, which emphasize the importance of separating children of different ages, in order to avoid violence against younger children. He further contended that the scramble to get on the bus that usually ensues constitutes a danger to the children’s health, as does the fact that a lack of seats means that the children must travel standing up, and their exposure to verbal and physical violence at the hands of older children.
