Last update - 00:00 23/08/2007
Education Min.: Sderot students may be schooled elsewhere
By Haaretz Service
Education Minister Yuli Tamir said Thursday that the ministry would consider evacuating Sderot students to schools in other areas should the need arise.
Palestinian militants fire Qassam rockets into Sderot and other Gaza-area communities almost daily, placing the lives of the residents of these towns in danger.
In an interview with Army Radio, Tamir said "If the need arises, we will take the students to study in other places or hold classes in shifts [in buildings reinforced against rockets], we are considering all the possibilities." Tamir also said that it will take more than a year to reinforce all the schools in Sderot against rocket attacks, in accordance with a High Court of Justice ruling. The school year, however, is scheduled to begin on September 2.
The High Court of Justice ruled in May that all Gaza area schools must be fortified and protected from rockets by September 1. The court debated on Wednesday a petition filed by the state, requesting that the court extend the reinforcement deadline by three years, and decided to delay its decision by 21 days.
Tamir said that she would meet with parents' association representatives in Sderot on Friday in efforts to find the optimal solution that would enable the students to begin the school year on time. She said she hopes to find the best solution "in the eyes of the teachers and in the eyes of the parents."
The parents' association in Sderot announced that it would accept the High Court decision to delay the decision on the issue by three weeks, and added that the organization would not try to prevent the opening of the school year.
Sderot mayor Eli Moyal said he was satisfied with the court's decision, but that no schools would open in the city without the explicit authorization of the home front command.