Yanoun, Nablus — “Knowledge is light and ignorance is darkness,” says the writing on one of the walls of Yanoun Primary School. Given the school’s dismal physical condition — rundown, damaged walls, rickety tin roof and lack of a playground — the words would seem to provide little comfort to its students or teachers, but they take solace in being able to learn and teach within the school's four walls.
The co-educational school, affiliated with the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, is located in the West Bank village of Yanoun, in southeastern Nablus governorate. As it is in Area C, Israel has full administrative and security authority over the area based on the Oslo II Accord (1995). This means that the school must obtain permission from Israeli authorities to make renovations, something they have never been granted.
