Bethlehem town protests school overcrowding

Dozens of Palestinians blocked access to a West Bank school on Monday to protest against overcrowding, locals said.

Parents told Ma'an that the principal had combined classes for the new school year, leaving up to 48 pupils in one classroom, at the UN refugee agency girls school in Battir, west of Bethlehem.

Several classrooms are left empty, and four teachers have just been transferred out of the school, they said.

Families in the town prevented students and teachers from entering the school, and handed a letter of complaint to school officials, who pledged to take it to the UN.