More than 200 classrooms under construction in e. Jerusalem schools

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
The Jerusalem Municipality announced Wednesday that it was building more than 200 classrooms for Arab schools in the city in an attempt to alleviate a severe shortage of classrooms in east Jerusalem. The 220 classrooms under constructions include 30 in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras el Amud, 94 in Jebl Mukaber and 96 in Sur Bahir. Education Minister Yuli Tamir has said that 6,000 classrooms are lacking in Israel, including 1,300 in east Jerusalem. The infrastructure and city services in east Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods lag way behind that of Jewish neighborhoods of the city, although, over the last decade, the municipality has worked to rectify this situation.