Keywords

1 Overview of the Country

1.1 Geographical Location, Population and Political System

Geographical location:

Palestine typically (Called also: historic Palestine) referred to the geographic region located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It was composed of Jewish and Palestinian. It included West Bank (the area west of the Jordan River) and Gaza Strip (along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea) and the West Bank. The people who call this territory home are known as Palestinians.

The occupied territories which include Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem have a surface area of 6,220 km2. The Israel has a surface area of 21,937.00 km2. Combined, the areas of West Bank, Gaza strip, Jerusalem and behind the green line make up 28,157 km2 (CIA, 2020).

The Oslo Accords represented the first direct Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement. This led to the formation of the Palestinian Authority (PA). On the ground, the occupied West Bank was divided into three areas - A, B and C. (Haddad, 2020):

Area A: initially comprised three percent of the West Bank and grew to 18% by 1999. In Area A, the PA controls most affairs.

Area B: represents about 22% of the West Bank. In both areas, while the PA is in charge of education, health and the economy, the Israelis have full control of external security.

Area C: represents 60 percent of the West Bank. Instead, Israel retains total control over all matters, including security, planning and construction.

The territory of historic Palestine is greater than the territory of The PA (the State of Palestine). In order to limit the scope of this chapter, the information and issues are concerning the West Bank (Without Israeli settlements), the Gaza Strip and the city of Jerusalem. See Fig. 9.1: Palestine People and land from 1946–2010 (PNC, 2019).

Fig. 9.1
figure 1

Palestinian loss of land 1946–2010

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Population

The country is divided into two physically separated geographic regions, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. According to the results of the 2017, Population, Housing and Establishments census, the State of Palestine had an estimated population of about 4.78 million people in 2017 with 47% of the population under the age of 18. The data indicates a decline in the total population growth rate between 2007 and 2017 to 27%, with an average annual growth rate of 2.7%. The average size of a Palestinian family is 5.1 persons. Muslims make up 96.5% of the total population. Christians are a minority (46,850), and other religions account for only 1,384 people. (PCPS, 2017).

According to the results of the 2016–2017 Palestinian Strategic Report, issued by the Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations, the number of Palestinians around the world was estimated at 13 million, more than half of them (50.6%) residing in historical Palestine (Israel and Palestine). The rest live abroad, about 75% of them in neighboring countries including Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. Palestine is a member of the League of Arab States, and Arabic language is the dominant language. (Zaytouna Centre, 2018).

Political System

The Palestinian Political System is complicated. The Declaration of Principles on Interim Self Government (DoP) signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Government of occupation in 1993 led to creation of PA as an interim administration to govern non-contiguous or weakly connected parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Nowadays, the political System of PA come theoretically within the framework of a semi-presidential multi-party republic, with an executive president, a prime minister leading the cabinet, and legislative council. Elections for the PA were held in Palestinian Autonomous areas from 1994 until their transition into the State of Palestine in 2013.

The Palestinian general elections of 1996 were the first elections for the President of the PA and for members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the legislative arm of the PNA. The second Palestinian presidential election took place on January 2005 while the second Legislative elections were held in the Palestinian territories in January 2006. The third Legislative and presidential elections were scheduled to be held in 2009 but was postponed until our days and never happened. The local elections (Municipal elections) were held in 2005, 2012 and last one were held in 2017 to elect local councils (Central Elections Commission, 2020).

1.2 Current Situation of Economic, Technologies and Cultural Development

Current Situation of Economic

The Palestinian Ministry of National Economy states four main explanations for the poor performance of the Palestinian economy: border closures, the withholding of tax revenues, labor flow reductions to Israel, and dependency.

Border closures increase transaction costs for business. The Revenue Clearance System has led to the occupation government regularly withholding tax revenues, often for politically motivated reasons. Labour flow reductions have led to a smaller number of Palestinians being able to commute to Israel for work due to increased movement and security restrictions. Finally, the dependency of Palestinian trade on Israeli whims has artificially inflated prices and reduced competitiveness (World Bank, 2013).

Table 9.1 show the most significant outputs of economic forecasts based on the assumed scenarios in PA for 2019 (PCBS, 2019):

Table 9.1 The most significant outputs of economic forecasts based on the assumed scenarios
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In the World Bank report; following a fiscal crisis in 2019, the Palestinian economy was projected to slowly recover in 2020. However, the COVID-19 outbreak seems to be largely weighing on economic activity. Living conditions are difficult with a quarter of the labor force unemployed and 24% of Palestinians living below the US$5.5 (2011 Purchasing power parity -PPP) a day even prior to the recent outbreak. A larger than expected decline in aid and a further spread of the COVID-19 virus pose significant downside risks. Growth in 2019 is estimated to have been weak, reaching 0.9%, as economic activity was disrupted for most of the year due to the fiscal crisis. Going forward, measures put in place by the PA since early March 2020 to halt the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, while effective in limiting the spread of the virus, seem to have resulted in disruptions in economic activity, especially in the West Bank. As a result, the economy is expected to contract by 2.5% in 2020. There are significant risks to the outlook. If the COVID-19 outbreak is not controlled soon, its impact on economic activity and livelihoods is going to be severe. Under this scenario, drastic measures are expected to be put in place including a complete lock down and a ban on movement between cities. Private sector representatives have also announced plans to cut pay by 50%. The largest impact would be through a decision to stop the entrance of more than 140,000 Palestinian workers to Israel, as those workers and their families account for a third of private consumption given their higher take-home pay. A sharp reduction in the number of tourists is also expected to contribute negatively. The lack of policy tools, such as fiscal stimulus, liquidity injections, or external borrowing could leave the economy vulnerable. The impact on consumption could be severe and the economy could contract by more than 7% (World Bank, 2020).

Current Situation of Technologies

In Palestine, Israel has controlled the Palestinian ICT infrastructure hindering its development and Palestinians’ digital rights including recent mass surveillance and monitoring of Palestinian content online. More than a decade after the Palestinians made the initial request for the release of the Third Generation (3G) frequencies; the service became available for Palestinian customers in the West Bank in early 2018. Israel’s control of the ICT infrastructure and flow of information has allowed it to limit and violate Palestinians’ digital rights, specifically the rights to access the internet, privacy and freedom of expression” (7amleh, 2018).

The Israeli occupation hinders technological progress. It impedes the import of equipment and hardware, controls frequencies and prevents Palestinian ICT companies form offer 4th generation of mobile networks as well as 5G. In general, Palestine needs to improve the ICT infrastructure; they need to have rights to operate 4th generation of mobile networks as well as 5G.

Current Situation of Cultural Development

The archaeological history of Palestine is very rich, with approximately 12,000 sites in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. As home to three monotheistic faiths (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) that consider the city of Jerusalem a holy city, Palestine is the site of many holy shrines and a unique architecture (Fanack, 2020).

Palestinians, no doubt, exhibit one of the most resilient and enduring cultures in the world. Despite the incredible pressure of occupation, this society has resolutely refused to let go of tradition, a sense of humor, and a passion for community. Nevertheless, despite this incredible resilience, the threats to Palestinian cultural heritage and identity are ever increasing. The split between Gaza and the West Bank, checkpoints, and the barrier are pushing communities further and further away from each other, dividing and further fragmenting Palestine. For many Palestinians, their cultural treasures are too frequently out of reach. The awe-inspiring Old City of Jerusalem is cut off from both Gaza and the West Bank, and therefore inaccessible for the majority of Palestinians who live in these areas. Many historical and natural wonders are located in Area C, under full Israeli control, preventing many Palestinians the right to access them, also weakening the sustainable development and effective management of infrastructure and of natural and cultural resources. Under the current blockade, Gaza’s treasures are not only isolated from most Palestinians and the rest of the world but also under the threat of destruction from war and economic decline (Roberto & Lodovico, 2017).

It is well known that Palestinian culture is most closely related to those of the neighbors from the Levantine countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as the Arab World. Cultural contributions to the fields of art, literature, music, costume and cuisine express the distinctiveness of the Palestinian experience.

2 Overview of the Education Development

2.1 Education System and Policy

The related Ministry of Education sector in Palestine called (Ministry of Education–MoE), also sometimes, it called (Ministry of Education and Higher Education–MOEHE) and nowadays there are two related Ministries; MoE and (Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research–MOHESR).

The MoE holds responsibility for managing public schools (including regulatory overview of schools run by the private sector), overseeing 67.08% of the total number of Palestinian students. United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) oversees 24.07%, while the private sector oversees 8.85% of the total general education student population. The educational system in Palestine is a centralized one, in terms of using the same textbooks for all grades and subjects in all schools in the country, and also having the same in-service teacher training programs, and a unified regulations (for public schools) in terms of teacher evaluation forms, teacher recruitment and upgrading procedures, and matriculation examinations. UNRWA schools, and despite that they are using the “centralized” national curriculum. They have their own system administration procedures: UNRWA schools in west bank are controlled by UNRWA education office in Jerusalem, while UNRWA schools in Gaza are controlled by UNRWA education office in Gaza, both west bank and Gaza offices are controlled by the UNRWA regional office in Amman – Jordan. (Mohammed Matar, 2017).

The Palestinian general education system is composed of the following sub-sectors (MOEHE, 2014):

  1. A.

    Pre-school education: Pre-school education refers to services for children from 4–6 years for two years. Pre-school services are provided by local and international institutions, with the local private sector services increasing rapidly. Currently, the MoE only indirectly oversees this type of education. However, the MoE is directing its policies towards establishing pre-school education in public schools as part of this education strategy.

  2. B.

    Primary Education: It includes grades 1–10. Basic education ranges from Grade 1–10 and is compulsory. It is divided into two levels the lower basic stage of grades 1–4 and upper basic stage (empowerment) including grades 5–10.

  3. C.

    Secondary Education: It consists of academic and vocational education for grades 11–12. Vocational education includes four streams: commerce, agriculture, industry and tourism. Academic education includes the science and humanities stream.

  4. D.

    Non-formal Education (NFE): The MoE grants licenses for NFE centers according to specific conditions. MoE provides two non-formal education programs: parallel education program provided to dropouts who had completed 5–6 years of basic education, and literacy program and adult education, provided for those over the age of 15 who are not proficient in reading and writing.

The main resource for the governmental policies that were initiated to further enhance education in PA are stated in the “Education Sector Strategic Plan 2017–2022” issued in 2017 from Palestinian MOEHE as well as “Summary of Education Development Strategic Plan EDSP 2014–2019. Palestine 2020: A Learning Nation. Directorate General of Planning” from the same Ministry in 2014.

The three sector goals are as follows (MEHE, 2017; MOEHE, 2014):

  1. 1.

    Ensuring safe, inclusive, and equitable access to education at all levels.

  2. 2.

    Developing a student-based teaching and learning pedagogy and environment.

  3. 3.

    Enhance Accountable Results-Based Leadership, Governance and management.

2.2 Statistics on the National Education

The following data do not include the Israeli Municipality and Culture Committee Schools in Jerusalem. The source of data is (PCBS, 2020): The Indicators for education by Level of Education for Scholastic Year: 2017/2018 in PA are listed in Table 9.2.

Table 9.2 The indicators for education by level of education
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The number of students, graduates and teaching staff in universities, university colleges and community colleges by sex in 2018/2017 are shown in Table 9.3.

Table 9.3 The number of students, graduates and teaching staff in Palestinian institutions of higher education (HEIs)
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Across all Universities, university colleges and Community Colleges, the number of female students now exceeds the number of males; it is nearly 60% female and 40% male. In contrast with student enrolment rates by gender, academic staff employs significantly fewer female than male professors do.

Number of Schools Teachers in PA for Scholastic Year: 2018/2019 is 57458 person. The number in Private sector is 7450, in UNRWA is 10004 and in Government sector is 40004 person.

The average number of students per teacher in PA schools for the same year is 22.3

While the Completion rate by Level of Education in PA for year 2018 in Primary level is 97.9, Lower Secondary level is 86.2 and Upper Secondary is 59.3

Note: the indicator was calculated depending on the years of schooling which the person successfully completed. The last grade of primary level is 6th grade, for lower Secondary is 10th, and for upper Secondary is 12th.

Mean Years of Schooling for Persons (15 years and above) in PA for Year 2018 is 10.92; Females is 10.94 and Males is 10.91.

Table 9.4 show the Percentage Distribution of Persons (10 years and Over) by Completed Years of Schooling in 2018:

Table 9.4 Percentage distribution of persons (10 years and Over) by completed years of schooling
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Table 9.5 show the Literacy Rate of Persons (15 Years and Over) in PA by Age Group in 2018.

Table 9.5 Literacy rate of persons (15 Years and Over)
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Table 9.6 show the Percentage Distribution of Persons (15 Years and Over) by Educational Attainment and Sex in 2018.

Table 9.6 Percentage distribution of persons (15 Years and Over) by educational attainment
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2.3 Educational Research and International Collaboration

Educational Research

Formally, The Scientific Research Council (SRC) was started in 2002 to formulate research policies within the framework of Palestinian higher education institutions. SRC was re-established in 2013 by a presidential decree restructuring the council's membership. The annual budget allocated for SRC came from the ministry’s budget to support scientific research. Nowadays the “Scientific Research” is part of Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research which may indicate for government interest. Despite the economic and political impediments during the Palestinian recent history and up to date, several academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and independent research centers were established.

The diverse research framework in Palestine includes both public and private universities, along with research centers. Research centers are either university-based, or civil society (registered at the Ministry of Information or at the Ministry of Specialization). In recent years, the number of researches centers in universities increased to 80 centers and laboratories in total. Public research carried out by them often focus on specific fields: water and environment (5 universities), biotechnology, ICT, and renewable energy (3 universities). In particular, while Palestinian universities show favourable environment for research; research productivities is still inefficient. Academic staff can be promoted according to universities’ regulations. The promotion regulations in all universities require academic staff to perform research and publish in acknowledged journals. Although most research done at universities is hence related to academic promotions, research productivity is still weak due to the heavy teaching loads, and the tendency to grant teaching overtimes to teaching staff due to financial constraints, and lack of proper funding for research activities as well. Not to mention the use of part-time contracts has risen in last decade … Furthermore, typical research in Palestine is widely produced either to obtain a degree or promotion, leading universities to look at research and knowledge production as more of a step to upgrade one’s rank. (Isaac & others, 2019).

There were 4,533 full time equivalent researchers in Palestine in 2013 of whom 1,023 were females, which translates to 655 researchers per million inhabitants (PCBS, 2014).

Recent MOEHE numbers indicate the total number of academic researchers in Palestine for the year 2017/2018 is 653, which translate to almost 150 researcher per million inhabitants. In North America and Europe there are 3,500 and 2,500 researchers per million inhabitants respectively, while this figure in the Arab world ranges between 200–250 researchers per million inhabitants. Currently, there are more than 150 research centers registered at the Ministry of Information, but most of them are not functional. Only four research centers are registered by MOEHE, namely the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ), the Palestinian Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic studies (MASARAT) and a newly established Palestine Institute for National Security Studies. (Isaac & others, 2019).

The research production by civil society mostly specialize in development, advocacy, and cooperative efforts. In Palestine the research production is rather marginalized when it comes to university affiliated institutions (constituting 10% of research output), while the majority of organizations conducting research are NGOs. Moreover, 80% of social sciences research is produced through research centers or consultative agencies outside the university settings (Qumsiya & Isaac, 2012).

The Center for Applied Research in Education - CARE (www.care-palestine.com) is a registered nonprofit organization, established in 1989, that aims to promote democratic ideals, develop a more robust civil society, foster respect for different cultures, and help to create a more humane world for all through education. CARE has spearheaded numerous programs and projects in cooperation with local partners and international institutions.

The Palestinian International Cooperation Agency (PICA) established by a presidential decree on January 2016, is the main public diplomacy tool of the State of Palestine and works as a national coordinator for South-South and North–South Cooperation. PICA transfers Palestinian know-how to countries of the South, in the form of development and technical assistance.

The creation of PICA “is guided by a national responsibility towards the international community and is an expression of gratitude and appreciation for the support given to the State of Palestine over the years. Guided by a vision of solidarity through development, the State of Palestine seeks to mobilize its skilled human resources to provide technical assistance to support partner countries in responding to crisis and tackling development challenges with the aim of promoting South Cooperation and realizing the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. To work towards this vision, PICA was created as the development cooperation arm of Palestinian foreign policy with specific attention given to support developing countries across and beyond the Arab region” (PICA, 2020).

According to PCBS, total expenditure on R&D in 2013 was USD 61.4 million, representing USD 24,641 per full-time equivalent researcher. The governmental sector contributed 56.1% of all R&D expenditure, nongovernmental organizations contributed 20.9%, and HEIs contributed 23.0% of total expenditure on Research and Development. The Percentage of External Funds for R&D is 26.9%. The major outputs of R&D in 2013 were as follows: 72 international awards and 116 local awards, 149 international standard book numbers (ISBN), and nine patents. Research was distributed by field of research as follows: 26.7% studies and consultations, 34.4% basic research, 30.6% applied research, and 8.3% experimental research. The Outputs of Research and Development in Palestine by Type in 2013: National Prizes for Researchers and Inventors is 116, International Prizes for Researchers and Inventors is 72, Patents is 9 and International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is 149. (PCBS, 2014).

The expenditures included both bilateral and multilateral projects, studies and consultancies. In 2018, MOEHE allocated $5.6 million for funding research projects in Palestinian HEIs.

3 Current Situation of Science Education

3.1 Policies and Standards

In the Palestinian educational system, the science education curriculum has been reformed many times towards providing greater opportunities for the Palestinian students to equip them with the 21 century skills and to realize that principals studied in different grades are meeting the daily requirements. For example, the reform was including redesign the activities in the curriculum to be suitable with the infrastructure in schools such as schools laboratories, the activities were student-centered approach asking students to conduct the activities were related more to the real daily life. Some curriculum reformed through integrating more advance technology especially the science curriculum in high school settings. Various science initiatives have been established to encourage students to study science in the higher education institutions from governmental organizations and non-profit organizations including scholarships, science competitions on the country level as well as the ISEF each year. ISEF was an international competitive encouraged student in 9th and 10th grades to participate in the activities through designing a project in different fields one of them was science. The project could be research, a product to be benefits for the local society. Another initiative to encourage students to study science was STEM summer club. This initiative was launched by the Mistry of Education (MOE, 2018) and the Palestinian universities. STEM club was a summer camp for elementary and middle school settings. The MoE launched the cap cooperating with the local universities. The main objective of these camps were training students to learn science by doing and playing through interactive activities. These summer clubs were for two weeks. It involved 3000 students from different background.

According to the strategic plan of the MOE (2017–2022), integrating technology into science activities, the science curriculum integrated local and relevant technologies and their environmental impact on science concepts. Based on our reviewing the science curriculum in different grades, invaluable information in the technological and scientific activities were included whenever suitable.

The majority of Palestinian science teachers have a degree in science and educational sciences from universities in Palestine and other countries. There are different universities and colleges in Palestine offer bachelor's degree in science (i.e. science education, science, Physics, chemistry, and biology).

3.2 Curriculums, Digital Resources and Teacher Training

We can conclude that the proposed curriculum of the last version released at the beginning of the academic year 2020–2021 that the curriculum is designed based on learner-centered based, multidisciplinary to some extent with other topics such as math, technology, and engineering, also it is relevant to national development goals and consistent with the ELESCO standards. The curriculum is flexible to suit the separate needs of first year students in higher education as well as the students in K-12. The development of the science curriculum in designed based on the consequences of the grades and student's level. The curriculum includes textbook, which provides students with basic concepts and its relevant applications from real-world problems, supplementary materials and each class should implement different activities related to the concepts in the science laboratory in the school. The majority of the Palestinian schools have a lab for science and science teachers have 90 min per week to work individually in the science lab to prepare for students’ activities as well as to clear the tools of the lab. The MoE in Palestine developed professional development programs for science teacher for training them to implement activities and to integrate technology in teaching science and using new trends in science education such as Virtual reality and simulation in science. Along with the professional development programs, the MOE has established the national center of raining teachers on new educational strategies and on using new technological tools in teaching science.

Many technological initiatives have been launched by organizations and individual to design interactive curriculum for science to tack attention of students and to make teaching science fun by using gamification, learning by doing, and learning by playing. The new trend in the policy of the MoE is using open educational resources (OER) as well as open educational practices (OEP) because both of them can mitigate the challenges facing science education in the unique case of Palestine since it is under occupation for more than 60 years and cannot provide schools with the necessity tools for science education especially for chemistry and Physics. As mentioned previously using open educational repository in teaching science is important to reduce the running costs of teaching science though benefit from national, regional, and international experiments in teaching science (Affouneh & Khlaif, 2020). The Israeli occupation has a negative impact on the educational system in Palestine. The MoE cannot provide schools with the important equipment for science education which prevent schools from obtaining essential materials for science experiments (Traxler et al., 2019).

Providing schools in Palestine with a digital content is a big challenge because science teacher in Palestine are not qualify to design interactive content for science education and recruiting firms to design digital content is expensive which cannot achieve in these days because of economic and financial situation. Therefore, we think the best solution to mitigate these challenges and provide schools with digital content is to use OER and have agreement with International organization to support science education in Palestine and to use free platforms to design e-content.

Moreover, the role of the MoE not only to provide curriculum and instructional materials for teachers but also developing the infrastructure of schools to be suitable to do experiments in the lab through providing the schools with different tools and instruments suitable for the curriculum and the school level.

3.3 Student Assessment and Achievement

Different tools have been used in schools for student's assessment including the traditional exams which are weekly, monthly, and at the end of the semester. The MoE participated in regional science exams especially in math, physics, and Chemistry in Jordan. The MoE has established Evaluation center to design the exams and assessment based on the international standards. The achievement of the students in the science international exams was low compared with regional countries, especially in the Arab world. For example, the achievement in PISA and TIMS was at the end of the scale which caused the Palestinian decision makers to stop participating in the assessment.

3.4 Science and Technology Venues and Centers

Students in Palestine in both higher education institutions and K-12 were participated in many competitive in the Arab world and international. Most of these activities centered on using technology in Augmented Reality and Virtual reality as well as using Artificial Intelligence in describing scientific phenomena. The purpose of these activities was to encourage students towards science education and the MoE supported students financially to participate in these activities. However, comparing Palestinian participation in regional and international activities is low due lack of financial support and lack of budget for these activities from the higher education institutions and the MoE as well as from the non-profit organizations.

The MoE used various approaches to facilitate outreaching of science education programs through launching formal and informal activities in the directorate of education and in the higher education institutions two times each year. Moreover, the MoE encouraged schools to visit the universities to participate in the science activities at the end of the academic year such as the Open days. On the open day, students organize an exhibition to present samples from their work in science education.

3.5 Utilizing Emerging Technologies

With the development of technology and adapting of Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning in Palestine, teachers and schools started to integrate different types of Information Technologies and Communications in teaching science and to use open educational resources in teaching science. Based on my experience while working in the educational technology department in the MoE in Palestine which focused on visiting schools and the science lab, I can confirm that the main emergent technologies were used for teaching and learning science including and not limited (1) simulation through using phet.com and other software especially in physics and chemistry. In addition to virtual labs in schools with high Internet speed as well as visualizations of some activities especially in Biology; (2) computational thinking the MoE conducted different workshops fort raining teaching on using CT in teaching STEM concepts including science education; (3) mobile devices; (4) Virtual reality; (5) robotics in computer science education; (6) Artificial Intelligence in specific private schools; and (7) Augmented reality.

Last year the MOE adapted the best rewards for science teachers who can design a learning object by using augmented reality and Virtual reality. The aim of this competition was to encourage teachers to design their technological activities to use in teaching science. Along with the aforementioned competition, students in middle high schools were invited to participate in a competition on the country level. These activities aimed to encourage students to explore the potential of advance technology in science education and how we can use these technologies to mitigate the challenges of science education in the Palestinian context.

Artificial Intelligence was a new trend in specific context and specific environment which was in higher education institutions and in some private schools were adapted AI in science education and encouraged students to participants in the activities supported by local non-profit organization in Palestine. The competition was to create an application to teach some science concepts or to explain a scientific phenomenon related to the local community and the Palestinian context. The competition enables students to utilize technology in different phases of the project and build strong teams. Utilizing technology by students enhances collaboration work among them and reduces the challenges of travelling to meet their partners and to communicate with international experts from the world.

The MoE utilizing technology in science education through building curriculum and designing interactive content for science education to be attractive for students. Moreover, technology has been used to facilitate science education through communicating with international virtual laboratories especially in the higher education institutions. Using advance technology as learning tools including Artificial Intelligence in higher education and creating virtual reality labs for teaching science in different universities and private schools.

In the age of COVID19, science education in Palestine has been affected by hidden factors such as the digital inequity, digital privacy, and technostress on teachers and students because of telework which is teaching and learning from homes (Khlaif & Salha, 2020). However, the MoE utilize different technologies to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on science education through using interactive platforms for science education such as H5P and Phet. Moreover, training teachers to design technological activities for science education before COVID-19 (Khlaif et al., 2019).

4 Requirements for Future Development of Science Education

The complex issues that facing our planet today e.g. Corona pandemic is a challenge to our Science education system for help prepare young people for the complex issues we are now facing and could help students to learn to think in different ways and to be able to support multiple perspectives as well as to deal complexity.

Theme like science education for the future is open the door for discussion the inspiring and challenging ideas. These ideas must follow the common human ethics, Otherwise the uncontrolled development of sciences, promiscuous treatment of nature and Overuse usage of nature resources will bring more and more future pandemics and disasters.

Within Palestinian context, the information from formal resources of the future development of science education in PA are rare; one of these resource is “Education Sector Strategic Plan 2017–2022: An Elaboration of the Education Development Strategic Plan III (2014–2019)” from Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education. In fact this plan is discussing the education sector not the science education in specific.

Previously, we mention the three sector goals, we give some details here.

The New Priorities of the Education Sector Strategic Plan 2017–2022 are: (MEHE, 2017).

Goal 1: ensuring safe, inclusive and equitable access to equal education at all levels of the system.

Priorities of the Strategic Goal 1: The priorities of the first goal can be classified in three areas:

  1. a.

    Improving enrollment in education at all educational levels and maintaining good enrollment rates:

  2. b.

    Providing protection and safe access to education at all stages and to all premises:

  3. c.

    Equity and justice

Goal 2: developing student-centered teaching and learning pedagogy and environment.

Priorities of the Strategic Goal 2: priorities of the second goal can be grouped under four categories:

  1. a.

    Developing programs, curricula and evaluation systems:

  2. b.

    Training and qualifying human resources working in the educational system:

  3. c.

    Adapting education, life and labor market needs

  4. d.

    Developing capacities in the field of scientific research:

Goal 3: promoting accountability, result-based leadership, good governance and management.

Priorities of the Strategic Goal 3: priorities of the third goal can be categorized in four areas:

  1. a.

    Developing the legal and legislative framework of the Palestinian educational system:

  2. b.

    Developing the administrative and governing environment:

  3. c.

    Partnership, Coordination and Cooperation

  4. d.

    Education in emergencies and difficult situations

May be it is worth mentioning that The A. M. Qattan Foundation, via the Educational Research and Development Programme (ERDP) which looks forward to improving the quality of education in Palestine and Arab world by means of continuing programmes and projects. One ot their project is The Science Studio.

The Science Studio is a product of a long-term research-led experience driven by inquiry-based teaching approaches in science education. It aims to spark people’s curiosity about science, and to make scientific knowledge relevant and attainable within the Palestinian and international human contexts. It aspires to communicate science in a way that achieves engagement, emotional involvement and retention of acquired knowledge, and to offer learning opportunities for students, educators, and the general public. Officially launched in October 2017, The Studio is a five-year pilot project (2017–2021) that will lay the foundations for the establishment of an Interactive Science Centre in Ramallah in the near future. It is one of the projects implemented by A. M. Qattan Foundation, in partnership with the Ramallah Municipality. The Studio is also in partnership with the Exploratorium: The Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception in San Francisco (USA). The Science Studio offers a free and creative space for creators, scientists, artists, engineers, educators and technicians to collectively take part in brainstorming, ideation, design, prototyping and creation of interactive science exhibits directed at the Palestinian public for learning and educational purposes (A. M. Qattan, 2020).

It also worth to mention the “Scientific Societies” which play a significant role in the advancement of teaching, learning and research in various disciplines. The Palestine Academy for Science and Technology (PALAST) has undertaken the initiative to catalyze and support the formation of national disciplinary and multidisciplinary scientific societies and clusters in Palestine. This is done in close coordination with all Palestinian universities and expatriate scientists. Within the first phase of this initiative, supported by Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Palestinian scientific societies in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and Agricultural Sciences were formed. Societies in other sectors are in the pipeline. The Founding Council for each society consists of representatives from each of the relevant academic departments from all Palestinian universities in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza. In addition, each council will include a number of expatriate scientists in the given discipline. The Academy will provide the nascent societies with management, organizational, legal, and technical support, in addition to pump priming seed funding to help them take off. Each council will convene a general assembly, consisting of university faculty in the given discipline. (PALAST, 2020).

5 Discussion and Conclusion

Science education, literacy and scientific research are main indicators of development. In Palestine, science education continues to rely mainly upon teacher-centered learning approach for delivering material and contents as well as administering assessments. Indeed the Science education in Palestine remains to be traditional where the students’ role is restricted by classes based on textbook-driven, and the students’ performance is evaluated based on their knowledge of these textbooks.

As Battrawi and Muhtaseb (2013) stated that, the students’ interest in science may inhibit as they see it as a rigid topic with minimal hands-on experimentation. Furthermore, there is a general lack of science culture in the Palestinian society. Science literacy is very important and achieving it is a challenge; however, developing informal science learning environments could be effective in enhancing science literacy in Palestine. The Walid and Helen Kattan Science Education Project (WHKSEP) is a Palestinian project aiming at “improving the quality of science education in Palestine’s schools and effectively transmitting its value into the wider society”, (Qattan 2011).

The rigidity of science education in Palestine remains to be a challenge. PA government have not a solid plan about future development of science education in Palestine, we did not found a really good plan means a plan that has a high chance of success.

The results of the study (Ghani & Saifi, 2012) showed that science fiction was not available through science textbook in general science for grades four and five primary.

The Palestinian educational system show many successful stories about Palestinian students and teachers which indicate a somehow good system, but it need more and more. In general, the governmental, local and non-profit organizations in Palestine are working on development of science education in the Palestinian context since 1993 to equip students to the 21-century skills and to provide students with high quality education in science, but due to the economic and political issues, they failed to succeed in their endeavor. However, we can say they did great work in teacher's professional development, improving the infrastructure in schools, and developing the core curriculum. We still need more work on the digital content and have agreement with international organizations to use OER and OEP. New trends in using emerging technology is started before COVID-19 but it was accelerated to use these trends especially Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality.