Palestinian schools strive to modernize classrooms

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian educators are looking to the future, hoping the use of technology and the arts will create new opportunities in a society that has produced large numbers of unemployed college graduates.

It’s a revolution of sorts for the Palestinians, who like other Arab societies have long relied on schools that stress rote memorization and obedience over research, creativity and critical thinking.

Ruba Dibas, the principal of the Ziad Abu Ein School in the West Bank city of Ramallah, says “students don’t need to memorize things. They need to understand first.”

Ziad Abu Ein is one of 54 “smart teaching schools” introduced last year. This year, the number tripled. By 2020, all 1,800 public schools in the West Bank are to be part of the program.