Adalah demands the establishment of high school for 400 students in the Bedouin village of Al Fur'a
On 11 February 2014, Adalah sent a letter to the Ministry of Education and the Al Qasum Regional Council demanding the establishment of the first high school in the village of Al Fur'a in the Naqab (Negev).
Al Fur'a is home to approximately 5,000 residents of which more than 400 are young men and women in their high school years. Most students, who finish their studies in two primary schools in the village, continue their studies in schools located within the Arab Bedouin government-planned town Kessife, which is located more than 12 kilometers away. A small percentage of the students also go to schools located in the government-planned towns of 'Arara and Hura, which are located 25 kilometers from their homes.
The letter sent by Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher argues that the lack of a secondary school in Al Fur'a causes extremely high dropout rates. A survey conducted by Adalah confirms that out of 375 students enrolled in the village's middle school, only 205 students attend high school in the nearby towns. This fact suggests that the transition from ninth grade to tenth grade causes a dropout rate of 45% in the educational system. Further, a large number of students drop out before reaching ninth grade.
Attorney Zaher stressed that the dropout rate is particularly high among girls. The nature of their traditional lifestyle makes it difficult for them to study in distant places. From their point of view, better transportation to schools outside of their village is not a suitable solution, and does not allow them to exercise their right to a valuable and appropriate education as required by law.
In 2005, Adalah petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to establish a secondary school in the Arab Bedouin village of Abu Tlul, which had very similar conditions as Al Fur'a village. After seven years of litigation and a Supreme Court order, the state finally established a secondary school in the village. (HCJ 7562/09, Fatmeh Abu Sbeli, et al. v. Ministry of Education, et al.)
