On 10 February 2013, MA’AN brought a group of 30 students from the Friends School in Ramallah to the Jordan Valley for an educational tour. The students decided of their own initiative that they wanted to personally document the situation regarding education in the Jordan Valley. MA’AN put together a presentation to give the students an overview of the political context, and the following day the students went with MA’AN to visit the Jordan Valley.
First the group was brought to al-Ka’abneh in order to see a school that MA’AN built and talk with the children there, most of whom are only a little younger than the Friends School students about their struggle to obtain an education. Students from the Friends School conducted a number of group and individual interviews with the children at al-Ka’abneh after listening to the principal of the school discuss a number of difficulties facing the school.
Next, to the group visited Fasayil al-Foqa to see another school built by MA’AN. At the school they spoke with the principal, a number of teachers, and many students about the many restrictions imposed on them that endanger their education. The students from Friends School brought pens, paper, and books for the children there, who are almost always limited by a lack of school supplies. Finally, the group stopped at the village of Zbeidat for lunch and to talk to the head of the Zbeidat village council. They discussed difficulties of the village, specifically regarding the limited access to education, while overlooking a magnificent view of the village.
This group of students from the Ramallah Friends School was thus able to gain new insight into the dire situation of education in the Jordan Valley and the many restrictions placed on other children their own age. In addition, a film crew from the Right to Education campaign was present throughout the day to film footage for an upcoming video about education in Area C of the West Bank.
