overcrowding faced by Palestinian residence of Jerusalem who are able to attend school, has a highly detrimental effect on the quality of education available to Palestinian students.218 Accordingly, many are faced with the prospect of paying for private schools, or being denied access to education altogether, as is the case of 5,300 Palestinian students in East Jerusalem.219 Acquiring permits to build new schools is not only difficult for Palestinians but also for international organizations such as UNRWA, which reports that Israeli authorities usually do not grant them building permits for schools.220 In an attempt to work its way around the permit regime, UNRWA has started using shipping containers as classrooms, hosting 30 children in just 30m2.221 Restrictions on the Quality of Education The right to education implies more than educational facilities being physically accessible. As stated by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the right to education also covers the acceptability of education, meaning that the form and substance of education must be of good quality and culturally appropriate.222 It is not only in the oPt that the Israeli permit regime undermines the quality of education available to Palestinians. This happens in Israel as well. CESCR states in its general comment No. 21. that “education must be culturally appropriate, include human rights education, enable children to develop their personality and cultural identity and to learn and understand cultural values and practices of the communities to which they belong, as well as those of other communities and societies.”223 The right to education thereby clearly includes the right of Palestinian citizens of Israel to learn about the culture and history of the Palestinian community as a whole. However, the Israeli Education Ministry has refused to include important Palestinian cultural and historical narratives, such as the Nakba, in the curriculum of Israeli schools. Moreover, Israel uses this restriction to the right of education as an informal or“hidden” permit, aimed at changing the culture and shared history of 218 The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, “Education Denied: Israel’s Systematic Violation of Palestinian Children’s Right to Education”, 2011, page 26. Available at: http://www.pchrgaza.org/ files/2011/education%20book.pdf 219 Ibid. 220 Ibid. Pages 19-20 221 Ibid. Page 25 222 UN Economic and Social Council, “General Comment No. 13: The Right to Education (Art. 13 of the Covenant)”, 8 December 1999, page 3 223 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), “General Comment No. 21, Right of everyone to take part in cultural life (art.15, para.1 (a), of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights”, 21 December 2009, page 7. Available at: http://www.refworld.org/ docid/4ed35bae2.html 60