Jerusalem - Ma'an - Minister of Labor Dr. Inas Al-Attari decided to exempt the children of the unemployed from school fees. The Minister said, "It was decided to activate a decision regarding exempting the children of the unemployed from school fees, through coordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, based on an unemployment certificate that will be obtained from the labor directorates in all governorates, in order to submit it to schools, to take the necessary measures to exempt them from school fees." Ma'an published a report in which a number of parents complained about the threats of some government school principals in the West Bank governorates to expel their children from school and confiscate textbooks if they did not pay school fees. One of the parents said that his son told him that the school principal threatened him and his other colleagues to confiscate the textbooks if they did not pay the financial dues, which amounted to about 50 shekels. Another guardian at a school in Bethlehem Governorate reported that some teachers insulted students who had not paid their registration fees, and threatened to expel them from school if they did not pay the next day. Please note that school fees are optional and not mandatory. The difficult economic conditions in the West Bank, in addition to the cessation of work for tens of thousands of workers, have caused many parents to be unable to pay the required school fees for their children. Source: Maan News Agency