RAMALLAH, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The new school year started Sunday across the West Bank, with Palestinian schools trying to keep classes going despite ongoing challenges.
About 846,000 students were enrolled in more than 2,500 schools across the West Bank this year, which were staffed by some 54,000 teachers, according to the educational authorities.
Amjad Barham, the Palestinian education minister, said during a ceremony marking the start of the school year at Beit Fajjar Girls' Secondary School, near Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, that more than 15 new schools had opened this year.
He said the ministry had developed plans to ensure the continuation of education despite the existence of barriers, checkpoints, closures and the demolition of schools in villages and towns affected by settlement activities.
But behind efforts to keep schools operating, Palestinian education officials say a deepening financial crisis is placing additional pressure on the education system.
"The new academic year began amid field and financial challenges that have affected various aspects of the educational process," said Sadiq al-Khadour, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education.
Al-Khadour said that the financial crisis had affected the renewal of school furniture, completion of administrative buildings and equipping of some schools.
He attributed the difficulties affecting teachers and students to the financial crisis facing Palestinian Authority institutions and widespread job losses among Palestinians since the outbreak of the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict in October 2023.
For 10-year-old Suleiman Khaled, the economic hardship was reflected in a simple part of the new school year: his school bag.
"I wished I could have a new bag, but my father has been unemployed for almost two years," Khaled said.
The financial burden is also being felt by teachers, who are struggling to meet the educational needs of their own families while continuing to work amid rising living costs.
Palestinian teacher Hussam Aghbaria, 45, from Hebron in the southern West Bank, said the financial difficulties facing teachers had directly affected their daily lives.
Aghbaria, a father of four, including two elementary school students, said rising prices of stationery and school supplies had added pressure on families already facing difficult economic conditions.
"Teachers find themselves in a difficult situation. On the one hand, they have to fulfill their role in teaching students at school, while on the other hand, they have to provide educational supplies for their own children at home amid deteriorating economic conditions," Aghbaria said.
Alongside financial difficulties, students and teachers face daily obstacles in reaching schools, including checkpoints, road closures, military gates and raids.
Al-Khadour said these circumstances were affecting the regularity of education, adding that the ministry had developed alternative plans to help students and teachers reach schools under difficult conditions.
According to a report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in April, as of December 2025, the number of movement restrictions imposed on Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, reached 925. The figure is 43 percent higher than the annual average of 647 movement obstacles in the preceding 20 years.
Such restrictions have also raised concerns over the ability of students and teachers to reach schools regularly.
Ramallah-based educational expert Youssef Abu Ras said the readiness of schools for the new academic year should not be measured solely by whether they open their doors.
"It should also be measured by the availability and stability of educational conditions and the ability of students and teachers to reach schools and continue their studies regularly," Abu Ras said, adding that the field and financial crises could become permanent rather than exceptional circumstances.
He warned that reduced school hours or disruptions to the academic schedule could negatively affect the future of coming generations. ■
