Cash crunch cripples Palestinian colleges to cut staff and programmes

Palestinian Student Protest

Ramallah, Occupied West Bank - Until recently Palestinian colleges were among the best in the Arab world, but amid severe shortages in public and private funding, many are now struggling to make ends meet.

As a result institutions such as Birzeit University - whose students recently blocked lecturers from entering classes in protest against tuition hikes - have been forced to freeze programmes and adopt stiff austerity measures in order to stay afloat.

Other Palestinian universities such as Nablus' al-Najah University have boosted student registration in order to raise more funds. But critics say this solution could compromise the quality of education.

About 14 universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip cater to roughly 150,000 college students.

These institutions not only meet the needs of the local and relatively small market for skilled workers, they also play a national political role by removing the need for young Palestinians to seek college education abroad which, in many cases, ends up with students permanently living in other countries.

Palestinian college officials vehemently deny that poor students who cannot pay tuition are being expelled. However, they don't deny that students are quitting college or postponing semesters because they can't afford to cover the rising costs of college education.

Moreover, students who don't repay their debt are often prevented from graduating and receiving their diplomas pending "financial clearance".

Many poor students who are unable to cover their education costs work in Israel or in Jewish settlements in the West Bank to save enough money for the next semester.

University administrations are trying to manage the crisis as best they can.

Ahmed Atawneh is president of al-Khalil (Hebron) University, the oldest in the occupied territories. Atawneh says Palestinian universities have been forced to use staff pension funds to pay wages, while colleges have taken bank loans to keep running.