Educational Finances in Palestine before 1948 (Nakba), British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume II - Page 640. Chapter XVI: Social Services : Section 2: Description of Education Systems

CHAPTER XVI.

Higher academic education of Jews is provided through Hebrew at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem which has its own entrance examination.

45. The Education Ordinance'", passed in 1933, requires every school and every teacher to be registered with the Department of Education. It recognises education as falling partly within the functions of municipalities or local or village councils and legalises the imposition of an education rate. Education Committees have been formed in a considerable number of centres, both Arab and Jewish.

46. Foreign and other private schools which receive no assistance from public funds are little affected by the Ordinance. They are subjected to sanitary regulations, but in educational matters are not liable to administrative intervention. They are, however, required to submit returns, to register particulars of buildings and staff, and to permit informative inspection by Government officers.

Educational finance.

4 7. Arab public education is under centralized Government control and is financed mainly from general revenues but to a considerable extent from local rates and contributions. No fees are charged in the five lower elementary standards and in higher standards only a small fee rising with the grade from £P.-.500 to £P.2.- per term. This fee is remitted in the case of poor students. These also receive free books and in Government boarding schools may receive free lodging and rations. Local rates and contributions ure spent mainly on buildings. So far as possible recurrent expenditure on teachers' salaries is met from general revenues and the Government teaching establishment forms a single corps. But since the expenditure from general revenues is not determined by Arab educational needs but by the money available, supplementary teachers have latterly been provided by local authorities at their own expense. On 1st January , 1946, there were 346 such teachers ma total establishment of 2,156.

48. Since the Hebrew public system has been developed almost to the stage of universal elementary education largely by subscriptions, Government has consistently held to the view that it would be contrary to the best interests of the country that it should be supported on its full scale from general revenues until these suffice to ensure equal facilities for all Arabs and all Jews. Consequently the Jewish public schools depend more on rates than on taxes.

The sources of Jewish elementary educational revenues are then (a) Government grants from general revenues;

(b) Grants from the Jewish Agency;

* Drayton, Vol. I, page 623.

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