UNRWA schools in Gaza closed for third day

UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip are still closed for the third straight day.

UNRWA employees staged a strike against overcrowding at UNRWA schools, unpaid vacations, downsizing, and postponing the academic year.

The demonstration was called in response to the agency’s new rules that would impose one-year of unpaid leave on staff members and increase the number of students in UN-run classrooms.

After the rule change comes into effect, more than 50 schoolchildren are to be taught in each classroom. Employees had unsuccessfully urged the agency to decrease the maximum number of pupils to 38 per classroom.

Despite Monday being the first official day of the school year, UN-led schools in Gaza remain closed because of the protests and more than 220,000 Palestinian pupils had no classes as a result.

The protest was the largest in a series of demonstrations against the cost-cutting measures.