11:00- 13:00 Minority women and girls and the right to education Hannan Elsaneh collaboratively with parents, established it. Later during the British Mandate3, the schools number doubled, and they included schools for female students. From 1949-1959 the state restricted the Naqab Bedouin's mobility, and the previous educational system almost disappeared entirely. From 19591969, the authorities marked fenced areas and forced the Bedouins to relocate, half of the previous schools only re-opened. Only in the late 1970's did the State begin to implement its own compulsory education law among the Naqab Bedouins; to date, it is not fully implemented there and the educational services are of poor quality. The government began to implement the law as a "generous gift" for those who complied with the authorities and moved to the planned villages. Communities that did not comply, however received a collective punishment in the form of lack of education and other basic services. Through the years, most elementary schools in the unrecognized villages, and high schools for the Naqab Bedouins, were enforced by court orders. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights, has petitioned the High Court Justice in many cases, demanding to ensure education services. Illiteracy among Women Due to different geo-political conflicts, it took several decades for the State of Israel to open official schools in the Nagab "Negev". Only in the late 1970's was the first High School established. There is, therefore, a significant generational gap that lacks basic education and literacy skills. This gap is by far more significant among adult Bedouin women, as many men were still able to somehow receive a basic education through the local community or its social institutions or travel, while women remained marginalized and illiterate. This places an enormous relevance on the need for adult women education and literacy training. Without this support, basic tasks such as going to the bank, attending a health care centre or a governmental office, voting, or accessing the labor market, are simply impossible to accomplish by an overwhelming group of Bedouin women. Although the situation is slightly improving, illiteracy is still present among girls today, since many unrecognized villages don’t have elementary schools and the dropout rate for girls is the highest in the country as the existing schools are inaccessible4. In a report prepared by Bar Ilan University in 19985, it was found that the number of Bedouin girls who went to school in 1995 was only 3 4 Melitz, Amram, 1955, Changes in the Bedouin Educational System. 'Isma'il Abu S'ad, 1997, Bedouin Education in the Negev. Israel, Background for Israeli Studies, Volume 2 5 Report No. 11, 1998, Bedouin in the Negev - Education Budget, Bar Ilan University, Research in Ethnic Education, April, 1999. 2