RAMALLAH, West Bank — The family of first-grader Jalaluddin Abdul Hadi was still hunting for schools a week after the school year started on Aug. 23. They managed to find a place for him at a public primary school close to their home in central Ramallah, just a quarter of an hour away by car, though it would be hard for the little boy to get there by foot. It was not the first time the family has faced this challenge. In 2011, they had to register their older son in a private school so he could get there by bus.
Ramallah suffers from a lack of public schools, especially in residential areas, while private schools that offer bus transportation to the students abound in the city.