Following Adalah's Intervention Education Ministry Commits to Opening an Arab High School in Led (Lod) for the 2009/2010 School Year

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has committed to opening a high school for Arab students in the city of Led (Lod) in Israel in the coming school year. The written commitment came in response to a series of letters sent by Adalah on the subject to the mayors of the municipalities of Ramle and Led and the MOE.

Prior to the 2007/2008 school year, Arab high school students from Led studied at a high school in Ramle that jointly served the neighboring cities of Ramle and Led. Approximately 1,300 pupils are enrolled at the school, 600 of whom are from Led. However, the mayor of Ramle decided from the 2008/2009 academic year onwards to restrict the intake of pupils in the school to residents of Ramle. This move stood to leave Arab pupils from Led without a local high school.

In July 2008, Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher approached the two municipalities and the various concerned ministries on behalf of parents, students and public bodies from Led to demand that an Arab high school to be opened in Led. During the 2008/2009 school year, the children’s parents also made several other approaches to Led municipality however, assurances provided were not followed through. Attorney Zaher then filed a pre-petition on 23 July 2009 to the Attorney General’s office, stating that if there is no response to Adalah’s demand it would petition the Supreme Court.

On 13 August 2009, the Attorney General’s Office stated in a response to Adalah’s letter that the MOE had committed to opening an Arab high school in Led at the beginning of the 2009/2010 school year. According to the response, the school will initially take in 10th grade pupils, while an 11th grade is to be added the following year, and a 12th grade in the year after that. The response also stated that the school would be established in a building known as the Weitzman School, and that the MOE had allocated the budget necessary for the renovation of the building to the Led municipality. The response also clarified that the Led municipality has appointed teachers and selected a principal for the school. Adalah will follow up on the progress toward the opening of the school.