Catch up Training for Tawjihi

Timeframe: April – June 2009

Location: Gaza Strip

Donor/s: UNESCO

Tawjihi exams occur at the end of upper secondary education in Palestine and are crucial as they are a major deciding factor in the student’s path to higher education. During the War, schools in Gaza closed and students fell one month behind in their course work. This meant that it was challenging for the students of the Gaza Strip to be on equal terms with students in the West Bank. The setback caused major difficulties for students in most school-subjects, most notably in mathematics, physics, chemistry and English.

To counter this gap and in order to raise the educational level of students in the Gaza Strip in preparation for the Tawjihi exams, Sharek Youth Forum and UNESCO worked together on the “Catch-up Teaching for Tawjihi Students” project.

In consultation with the Ministry of Education (MoE), 12 education centers (6 male and 6 female) were identified. 210 teachers from six governorates were recruited on the basis of specific criteria and the project was publicized on radio stations across Gaza. A total of 2,889 Tawjihi students were supported by the project and the success of the intervention with these students has ensure that the project has been continued and expanded for 2010.

Project Fact Box

• 2,889 people across 4 governorates benefited from the project

• 458 session hours on 20 subjects delivered

• CDs of Exam Curriculum Material distributed to all participating students

• MoE provided with 1 million A4 sheets of paper to ensure that exams were printed properly

Making a difference

One student, Isra' heard about the catch up teaching sessions from her college. She said afterwards, "Really, these sessions helped me a lot and enabled me to understand 80% of the chapters that I was facing difficulties to understand. The teachers were really very qualified and they supported me very much".