The Association of Palestinian Local Authorities- APLA implemented a workshop entitled “Inclusion Requirements in Educational Institutions”, with the participation of representatives from 19 LGUs that are members of the “Inclusion taskforce”, in addition to a specialists in engineering and planning. The workshop was held as part of APLA’s ongoing efforts to promote inclusion concepts within the educational sector and link them to engineering standards, legislative frameworks, and practical applications.
The workshop aimed to deepen participants’ understanding of inclusion within educational environments through the presentation of practical experiences and the exchange of expertise among LGUs. Eng. Khawla Shahada, Head of the Planning Department at the General Administration of Buildings at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, presented the engineering standards for designing inclusive educational facilities, in addition to the legislative framework governing school classification. She also highlighted the key challenges and gaps related to the implementation of inclusion standards.
For his part, Eng. Abdullah Badarna from the Engineering Department at Al-Bireh Municipality presented a practical field experience in developing the infrastructure of public schools. His presentation covered mechanisms for designing inclusive facilities, building permit requirements, adopted practical procedures, and lessons learned from implementation, contributing to strengthening the connection between theoretical frameworks and practical application.
At the conclusion of the workshop, participants issued several recommendations, most notably the unification and dissemination of inclusive engineering standards among LGUs and the Engineers Association while ensuring compliance with these standards. They also called for establishing clear mechanisms for rehabilitating school buildings and adopting unified standards for resource rooms in schools. In addition, participants emphasized the importance of involving persons with disabilities and specialists throughout the planning and implementation phases, expanding the concept of inclusion to encompass curricula and assistive technologies, and enhancing the readiness of educational staff through training and awareness programs to ensure effective and sustainable inclusion.
This workshop comes within the framework of the Knowledge Exchange Platforms Program, implemented with the support of the Local Governance Reform Program at GIZ.