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New Gaza Education Law Imposes Gender Segregation

A law has been passed by the government of Hamas in Gaza requiring all students to be segregated by gender from the age of nine, Hazem Balousha reports.
Palestinian school children raise their hands during a class in al-Qahera elementary school in Gaza City April 2, 2013. New rules from the Education Ministry of the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip will bar men from teaching at girls' schools and mandate separate classes for boys and girls from the age of nine.
REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTXY5M6
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The Hamas government in Gaza has passed a new education law that promotes gender segregation in the schools of Gaza and bars men from teaching at girls’ schools, sparking a wave of criticism from civil society organizations, which accused the movement of seeking to Islamize Palestinian society.

In a news conference held in Gaza on March 31, the minister of education in the government of Hamas, Osama Muzaini, announced the adoption of the new Palestinian education law.

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