After a Seven-Year Struggle, First High School Opens in Abu Tulul Arab Bedouin Village in the Naqab →

(Beer el-Sabe, Israel) On Monday, 27 August 2012, the first high school opened in the Arab Bedouin village of Abu Tulul in the Naqab (Negev). The opening of the school is the result of a seven-year struggle conducted by the residents of the village and the surrounding villages and Adalah.

This year, the new school is comprised of four 10th grade classes. Next year the school is planned to grow and 11thgrade classes will open; the following year, 12th grade classes are expected to open.  120 pupils study at the school, half of them girls and half of them boys from the village and its vicinity. Mr. Raji Alharam was appointed as the school principal, and seven teachers were engaged to teach at the school. The school is comprised of 12 caravans (pre-fabricated structures); four are used as homeroom classrooms, four will be used as general classrooms, and two will accommodate science and computer labs. Two caravans are set aside as bathrooms.

Approximately 12,000 Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel live in the area of Abu Tulul. There are three elementary schools and one middle school in the area, attended by 2400 children. The absence of a local high school led to a sharp increase in the drop-out rates of high school students; these rates are significantly higher than the overall national average. Moreover, the traditional nature of Arab Bedouin society also led to higher drop-out rates among high school- aged girls, than high school-aged boys; families often do not permit girls to travel for far distances to attend high school, thus the location of the school is crucial.

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This is quite a change in pace as a opposed to the normal grind of articles concerning Bedouin in the region; its worth taking a moment to note.

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