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Subsequent appeals for proper implementation of mandated policy brought little redress. A growing educational deficiency deepens.
From 2001 - 2012, only 314 additional E. Jerusalem classrooms were built. Only 33 were added during the most recent (2011 - 2012) school year.
Presently, 91 classrooms are under construction. Only six were completed for the beginning of the current school year. From now through around June 2013, another 37 are expected to be ready.
An additional 257 classrooms are in different planning stages: 51 preparing for construction; 122 being planned; and 84 awaiting land expropriation.
When completed, E. Jerusalem will have 348 more classrooms. If population figures don't increase, the shortfall will still exceed 750. Numerous neighborhoods are entirely left out. No plans loom to help them.
Overall, E. Jerusalem's education system is "substandard and overcrowded." Too few teachers and classrooms serve too many students. Thousands get left out because there's no space for them.
One school in A-Thori reflects conditions throughout E. Jerusalem. It's a boy's school. It's in an old residential building. It's substandard. Safety and hygiene conditions aren't addressed.
It was built to accommodate 300 students. Around 500 are crammed in. School density is "unbearable." Some classes are held on balconies.
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