7) "Particular attention regarding access to education should be paid to the situation of women and girls, upon whom poverty and family responsibilities may have a disproportionate impact, as well as aggravated discrimination, including in extreme cases violence, on the basis of culture, gender or caste" In Adalah’s opinion, the wording “Particular attention” needs to be strengthened to indicate explicitly that states have a duty to ensure equal access to education for women and girls from minority groups. In addition to the comments on this section of the draft, Adalah further suggests the insertion of two additional provisions regarding the access of minorities to education: 1) Adalah recommends a provision on the need for affirmative action in education for minority groups that have been subject to a policy of historical discrimination or injustices in realizing the right to education. A petition filed by Adalah to the Israeli Supreme Court illustrates the need for such an addition. In the case, the petitioners demanded that the Education Ministry appoint counselors for Arab Bedouin students at risk of dropping out of school. Adalah stressed that Arab Bedouin towns and villages in the Naqab suffer from the highest rates of dropping out in the country, and yet are discriminated against in relation to Jewish towns and villages in the designation of dropout counselors. Adalah argued that a policy of affirmative action was required in this case since, even if an equal percentage of counselors were appointed for Arab Bedouin students in the Naqab as for Jewish students they would still be discriminated against, since the Arab Bedouin students are in greatest need due to the high dropout rate and low overall levels of educational achievement resulting from decades of discriminatory educational policies. In 2005, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the educational gap between the Jewish and Arab Bedouin students in the Naqab required a policy of affirmative action to bring the Arab Bedouin students to a similar starting point to that of the Jewish students, in order to achieve equal opportunities for all social groups. This provision should also include affirmative action for minorities in higher education, where the cumulative impact of discrimination at the lower levels of education often results in low levels of representation for members of minority groups as both students and academic staff at colleges and universities. 2) There is currently no mention of adult education for members of minority groups in the current draft. Article 13 (2)(d) of the ICESCR stipulates that “Fundamental education shall be encouraged or intensified as far as possible for those persons who have not received or completed the whole period of their primary education”. Adalah suggests that a parallel provision be added to the draft, in particular given that minority groups often suffer from higher-than-average dropout rates and illiteracy rates than the majority population. Section VI of the draft - Content and delivery of the curriculum In Adalah's opinion the language of this section should be strengthened as well: 1) "Curricula relating to minorities should be developed in co-operation with bodies representative of minorities" The wording “in cooperation with” is weak. To comply with this provision, states would be required to do very little. For example, a state committee charged with developing curricula for minorities holding a consultative meeting with an educational body from a minority group could technically