Binyamin Region suffers from school shortage

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, ABE SELIG
On paper, the 350 male pupils in Talmon's elementary school for boys are no different than any others who are registered by the Education Ministry. But when they open their books at their desks, they sit in 20 unauthorized caravans, which have housed the school for at least the last decade. Time has not been kind to the caravans on the settlement's perimeter. The floors are rickety, the ceiling leaks and exposure to the elements was "detracting from the student's education," according to Boaz Luria, the school's principal. "We had to cancel classes for two days last winter because it was too cold and rain was coming in through the roofs," he said. "Some of these caravans are 15 years old, and they're simply falling apart." These conditions aren't what this community of some 2,000 people located outside the security barrier had envisioned for their school. Binyamin Regional Council education director Ya'acov Libi blames politics for preventing either the replacement of the caravans or the construction of a new school. The Council has obtained permits from everyone but the Defense Ministry to legalize the school, despite repeated attempts to do so over the years, he said, adding, "We raise it in every conversation with them." "The Defense Ministry won't give the necessary permission to build there," Libi said. "They see it as a kind of settlement expansion. But we're not asking for more territory, we just want to build on the territory we already have." The Civil Administration and the Defense Ministry said the process of authorizing the school was in the advanced stages. "It's in the final stages," a spokesman said. But Libi said he has been hearing this refrain for years and has no faith in it. It isn't as if there is an alternative for the students, he said. While the overall school population through grade 12 in Israel rose by 1.4 percent from 2007 to 2008, in the Binyamin Regional Council the student body increased by 10%. There are some 12,000 pupils in 43 schools in the Binyamin area, including 2,000 who learn in caravan classrooms, as in Talmon. In situations similar to Talmon, Libi said, there were an additional nine schools in the Binyamin Regional Council area made up entirely of caravans because classroom space is so sparse there. In many of those cases, the schools also lack authorization, he added. He said he and the council were so desperate for space that they have tried to bring in new caravans even though they lack the permits for them, but have been prevented from doing so by the IDF. On Sunday, the boys who milled around the caravans played basketball between classes, just as if they were on any other school grounds in the country. Libi said they should be treated that way as well.