Gaza universities struggle to stay afloat
Gaza’s universities are cutting professors’ salaries, reducing grants and increasing tuition fees as a result of the financial crisis plaguing the Gaza Strip.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Mohammad Tayseer cannot afford the media faculty fees at Al-Aqsa University, although majoring in journalism has always been his dream. He loves photography and aspires to become a well-known journalist.
After Tayseer insisted with his father, the young would-be journalist managed to secure, with difficulty, $250 for the first semester. “I thought we only had to pay the enrollment fees, but then I realized that there would be daily transportation fees from the south of the Gaza Strip to Gaza City. I also need a laptop to write articles and a camera to take pictures. I don't know what to do,” he told Al-Monitor.
Tayseer is not alone in facing such constraints. The administrations of Palestinian universities in the Gaza Strip are equally restricted, as they have been facing a severe financial crisis for about five years, and the crisis has intensified following the war on the Gaza Strip.
Asked about this crisis, the deputy chairman of external affairs at the Islamic University, Yahya Sarraj, told Al-Monitor, “Since early 2014, the 1,040 staff members working at the university are getting 70% of their salaries, and if the current crisis lasts, then they might start receiving half of their salaries. Moreover, university scholarships cost the university 2.5 million Jordanian dinars a year [$3.5 million], and we have reduced 30% of them.”
