On Sunday, 3rd. Nov.2019, the Press House - Palestine, hosted a workshop organized by the National Campaign to demand a reduction in university fees, on "The current fees crisis and the challenges and Solutions surrounding it " that can address the crisis.
The workshop's guests were: Riyad Abu Zinad, the Dean of Student Affairs at Al-Aqsa University, Khalid Odwan, the Director of Student Affairs at the Ministry of Education, and the Human Rights Activist Salah Abdel-Atti.
The workshop reviewed the arbitrary procedures followed by some Palestinian universities against students who are unable to pay university fees, which is to expel them from the examination halls and the detention of many certificates that have deprived students from joining the labor market, which led them to migrate to search for work, it also discussed the responsibility of the Palestinian government and the Ministry of Education on thisissue.
For his part, Riyad Abu Zinad, the Dean of Student Affairs at Al-Aqsa University, said that they are working to provide various grants to students away from the procedures of dismissal and preventingthem from exercising their right to enter theuniversity examinations as well as the release of all detained certificates since 2018.
In turn, Khaled Odwan, the Director of Student Affairs Department at the Ministry of Higher Education, said that the ministry has taken strict measures against the educational institutions that expel the late student of paying the fees from the exam halls, and discussed the problem of educational institutions that did not get recognition from the Palestinian government in Ramallah, stressing that the Ministry is exerting its efforts to solve the problem of fees by adopting many exemptions granted by universities to students as well as allowing some institutions to provide financial assistance and grants to students.
For his part, the Secretariat of the student frameworks, through its member Izz -Eldeen Ali, posed several obstacles to the crisis of the university fees, including the role of student councils in universities to protect and defend the rights of students and the need to activate the student fund, which covers students fees and provides them with a steady income and demanded to neutralize universities from political differences.
Salah Abdul-Ati, the Human Rights Activist, said that many of the dilemmas in the university fees crisis include the financial deficit in universities and the crisis of non-recognition of some of them as well as the crisis of student indebtedness .Noting thatuniversity crisis stems from its dependence on two sources of funding, the university fees and government grants, which imposed on the current crises.
Abdel-Atti presented solutions to get out of the crisis, such as finding a real partnership with parents and students to find solutions to the crisis and develop lobbying groups by students and overcome this stage with youth efforts.
There have been intense discussions, including many questions by students about the role of the responsible authorities in solving this crisis and taking into account the bad economic conditions experienced by the students.
