New Gaza Education Law Imposes Gender Segregation
A law has been passed by the government of Hamas in Gaza requiring all students to be segregated by gender from the age of nine, Hazem Balousha reports.
The Hamas government in Gaza has passed a new education law that promotes gender segregation in the schools of Gaza and bars men from teaching at girls’ schools, sparking a wave of criticism from civil society organizations, which accused the movement of seeking to Islamize Palestinian society.
In a news conference held in Gaza on March 31, the minister of education in the government of Hamas, Osama Muzaini, announced the adoption of the new Palestinian education law.
Muzaini stated that the most important characteristic of the new education law is that it was drafted by Palestinians themselves. He said that the education system is no longer based on custom and has now become enforceable by law. Therefore, institutions that do not adhere to it shall be sanctioned.
Article 42 of the new education law stipulates that “boys and girls must be in separate classes in educational institutions after the age of 9.” Moreover, according to Article 47 of the same law, “The Ministry of Education is working on banning men from teaching at girls’ schools.”
