NABLUS, Palestinian Territories, Feb 17, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - At an hour when Ahmad and Mohammed should have been in the classroom, the two brothers sat idle at home in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority's deepening budget shortfall is cutting through every layer of society across the West Bank. But nowhere are the consequences more stark than in its schools, where reduced salaries for teachers, shortened weeks and mounting uncertainty are reshaping the future of around 630,000 pupils. - 'Systemic emergency' -For UN-run schools teaching around 48,000 students in refugee camps across the West Bank, the picture is equally bleak. In the northern West Bank, where Israeli military operations in refugee camps displaced around 35,000 people in 2025, some pupils have lost up to 45 percent of learning days, Fowler said.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha February 17, 2026 04:50 UTC