In Pre-Petition to Attorney General's Office: Adalah Demands Establishment of Elementary School for 350 Arab Bedouin Children in Unrecognized Village of Swawin in the Naqab
On 3 November 2010, Adalah submitted a pre-petition to the Attorney General's Office demanding the establishment of the first elementary school in the unrecognized Arab Bedouin village of Swawin (pop. 1,200), located in the Naqab (Negev) desert in the south of Israel.
The pre-petition was filed on behalf of parents of children in the village. 350 children, aged 6-12, should be attending elementary school but their former schools have refused to enroll them. The parents have refused to comply with the Education Ministry's demands to send their children to schools 20 km away and instead they initiated a strike at the beginning of this school year which is still in effect.
During meetings with the Director of the Southern District of the Education Ministry and officers from the Abu Basma Regional Council, the parents were told that to build the school, they must obtain permits from the relevant authorities, such as the Israel Land Administration (ILA). In the pre-petition, Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher argued that "holding the parents responsible for obtaining and delivering the said permits is equivalent to mocking the poor, because it ignores the legal obligation of the Education Ministry and the Abu Basma Regional Council to provide free education for all of the state's pupils which includes pupils from Swawin. This duty is stipulated by the Compulsory Education Law - 1949 and in the State Education Law – 1953."
For many years, the children of Swawin attended schools in Segev Shalom, one of the government-planned Arab Bedouin towns in the Naqab, which absorbed pupils from other villages and as result were very crowded. Overcrowding has led to a significant deterioration of the school's facilities as well as the quality of education being provided. Due to overcrowding, the parents' committee in Segev Shalom declared a strike at the beginning of the school year. After the strike, the education unit of Segev Shalom and the Abu Basma Regional Council signed an agreement, according to which pupils in grade two and above who live outside of Segev Shalom would be transferred to schools in Abu Tlul village at the beginning of the next school year (2011-2012) but pre-school and first grade pupils would be sent to schools in Abu Tlul beginning this school year (2010-2011).
Abu Tlul is 20km away from Swawin. Due to the long distance, the children must leave their homes at 6:30 a.m. to get to school on time. Beginning the day so early and traveling such a long distance will cause great strain on the children. Moreover, the Abu Tlul schools are also very crowded; both of the schools in Abu Tlul have over 1,000 pupils already enrolled. Each classroom in Abu Tlul averages at least 40 pupils. Attorney Zaher emphasized that the lack of a school for the children of Swawin violates their right to receive compulsory, free and accessible education.
