By Quds News Network
Gaza (Quds News Network)- Despite the widespread destruction from Israel’s 15-month assault, over 150,000 students have enrolled in 165 government-run schools across Gaza, following the Ministry of Education’s launch of a compressed academic year on February 23.
More than half of these schools are forced to operate in three shifts daily due to the severe destruction caused by Israel’s assault, according to the UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA.
[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1893557802494288066]
Over 7,000 teachers have been mobilised to support the disrupted education system, with 30 schools in northern Gaza, 52 in Deir al-Balah, 57 in Khan Younis, and 26 in Rafah.
[https://twitter.com/UNOCHA/status/1897282952540905654]
Gaza Education
Despite efforts to restore education, Israel’s blockade and the destruction of infrastructure continue to deny Gaza’s children their basic right to learn.
[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1894857757339304029]
Tala, an 8th-grade student, returned to school after losing one of her best friends in the Israeli assault.
“Heba was my best friend. She was killed in an Israeli attack on her family’s home last year. She always sat next to me in class, but now I’m sitting here without her,” Tala said, noting that several of her classmates were also killed.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, over 15,000 school-age children have been killed, along with more than 800 workers in the public education sector during the Israeli assault which led to a disruption of formal education for two consecutive academic years, lasting a total of 300 days.
Ahmed Musleh, a 10th-grade student at a central Gaza school, said they are surrounded by rubble with no furniture, textbooks, or devices available.
“We depend on the teacher’s explanations. The students suffer a lot because we have no access to textbooks or devices. The prices of paper and even pens are expensive because the crossings are closed by the Israeli occupation, and such materials aren’t getting through,” he said.
Israel’s direct targeting of school and educational buildings has caused significant damage to 95% of these structures. Furthermore, 85% of them are no longer operational due to complete or partial destruction, along with the loss of all resources, including school and administrative furniture, textbooks, devices, and equipment, the Office stated.
“Usually, this would be a day of celebration—seeing the children in their new uniforms and heading to school. Today, all we hope for is that the war ends and the ceasefire continues before we lose any one of them,” the mother of Tala told Quds News Network.
6 March 2025
Source: countercurrents.org