Pulses and Indicators: Unemployment in Palestine — Part Five

9-10-2018                  

·       Part Five of the article.. Unemployment

-        It appeared in statistics we reviewed that the number of accredited and licensed institutions in Palestine according to the Ministry of Higher Education statistics in 2017/2016 amounted to....49 higher education institutions, of which 14 are traditional universities and one university as open education, and 16 university colleges, and 18 intermediate colleges...

-        In the West Bank 33 higher education institutions are distributed as follows: 9 traditional universities (2 public, 6 community, and one private), 12 university colleges (4 public, 5 private, two community, and one under the supervision of the UNRWA.. in addition to 12 intermediate community colleges...

-        The number of new students who enrolled in higher education institutions for the academic year 2016/2017..in the West Bank..reached....59,318 students...(of whom 34,975 female students, and 24,343 male students)..of this number traditional universities absorbed 34,003 students..of whom for the bachelor's degree their number reached 29,354 students...as for the private colleges they absorbed about 5,932 persons, while the intermediate community colleges absorbed about 4,907 persons..as for open education it absorbed about 14,476 students...of whom 10,987 for the bachelor's stage...

-        And according to statistics reviewed from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) ..for 2017..the unemployment rate among university graduates reached about 53%...and the unemployment rate among youth in the age group 15-29 years reached 40%,

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-        And the statistics for the first quarter of 2017 indicated that the highest unemployment rate among specializations reached 70% among graduates of the natural sciences..as the highest unemployment rate among university specializations..while graduates of health had the lowest unemployment rate among graduates...

-        As for the sectors in which youth currently work in Palestine....the statistics gave us a rate of 27% of employed youth working in the trade, restaurants and services sector...and 18% of employed youth work in the construction sector..and 17% work in industry... while the proportion working in agriculture was 8%

-        And when reviewing the specializations in university education in which students register, and according to the 2015/2016 academic year statistics for example, the number of graduates that year reached 44,446 graduates. of whom 27,000 were female graduates....and the number specializing in Education was 11,313 students, the specialization in Humanities 3,632 graduates, the specialization in Social Sciences and Journalism 4,026 graduates, the specialization in Business and Law 13,936 graduates, the specialization in Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Statistics 1,380 graduates, while the specialization in Information Systems and Communications Technology 1,843 graduates, while the specialization in Engineering and Production Industries and Construction 3,788 graduates, while the specialization in Agriculture reached 337 graduates, while the specialization in Health and Social Services reached 3,937 graduates.. And it is clear that the highest share of graduates specialized in Business and Administrative studies...and the proportion ranges between 27-31%..

-        In a statistic for graduates of 2015/2016, the percentage of graduates of traditional universities from the total university graduates was 61%, while graduates of open education – Palestine Ahliya University? [see note] – was 24%.. while intermediate community colleges were 9%, and 6% the percentage of graduates from university colleges.. where the number of university graduates in 2015/2016 reached 44,446 university graduates.
Well-considered planning in universities in cooperation with the private sector and the concerned ministries is necessary, to consolidate the principle of opening specializations that keep pace with market developments and the private sector and the evolution of required skills concepts..and to continuously update such planning..in order to help solve the problem of unemployment among university graduates.

-        The continuation of unemployment and the sharp increase in its rates entail serious economic, social and political repercussions ..which will increase in the coming few months ..and also the increase in financial siege and the drying up of international support and grants, and Arab aid..puts the Palestinian National Authority in a great quandary, in addition to the continued economic decline in light of the emerging political and financial conditions..which increases the resentment of the unemployed which will appear – God forbid – in the occurrence of social problems and collapses and weakening of allegiance to the state, increased demand for migration, increased societal tension, and the possibility of demonstrations demanding a solution to the unemployment problem..as happened a few days ago in the Gaza Strip.. Poverty is increasing.. generating despair and indifference .., in addition to what it produces of social destabilization, and consequently political instability, which throws the Palestinian National Authority into confusion, while it exerts its continuous and vigorous efforts to establish the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital...

·       Sources of the research are statistics of the Palestine Monetary Authority, and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and a number of master's and doctoral theses in economics, and a number of references, journals and research affiliated with institutions ...