9/9/2024
Ramallah- “Adham and Lara” are two siblings whose family, along with the civil defense crews, succeeded in extracting them from under the rubble of their destroyed home in Jabalia, days after the outbreak of the war in Gaza. Adham, who had just started his year as a first-grade student, is sad about his stationery that he was unable to save from the rubble.
His mother had bought him a nice bag, pens, colours and a drawing book. She says, “He was very happy to start school, but his psychological state was shattered after spending hours under the rubble of our house. There are scars on his face to this day, and he can barely walk. He has become aggressive and screams constantly.”
As for his sister Lara, who had just started third grade, her mother says that she has become isolated and withdrawn, and does not want to talk to anyone. She confirms that the war and the scenes of destruction and blood have left their mark on the personalities of her two children.
Study dream
“They forgot how to read and write, even the letters they learned. We hope that school will return. This is our dream,” the mother continues. She adds that some parents send their children to private lessons, and confirms, “If I could afford the lessons, I would send them, but I struggle to provide food for them and milk for my one-year-old little girl.”
Iman Abu Saleema is a mother of 7 children; 3 in school, 2 in university, and a young man who was in high school when the aggression began. Suddenly, he found himself standing in queues to get water and food, so he decided to work to help provide for his family and not go to school when education resumes.
Iman describes her children’s absence from school as a real tragedy, and says that the Palestinian Ministry of Education in Ramallah “did absolutely nothing to save our children’s future, only individual initiatives here and there.”
Meanwhile, the start of the new school year in the West Bank, Monday morning, put the issue of saving education in Gaza on the table for discussion. Who will save the future of its children?
The Israeli war on the Gaza Strip deprived nearly 700,000 male and female students of their school seats, and their future became dependent on some educational initiatives here and there.
Asmaa Mustafa, a teacher from northern Gaza, was displaced for the first time from her home a few days after the war broke out on October 7, 2023. The sight of young children roaming the streets in despair, searching for a bite of food or a drink of water broke her heart. “They have grown up too soon,” says Asmaa, who did not take long to think about what to do, and quickly launched her initiative, “Every Day a Story.”
Today, the teacher is experiencing her eighth displacement. She is displaced and her initiative is displaced with her. Wherever she goes, she calls out to the children through a small speaker that she carries with her. She explains that she is trying to relieve their burden and remind them of the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, for fear of “making an entire generation ignorant because of the war.”
In addition to more than 10,000 martyred students in Gaza and 15,000 wounded, hundreds of thousands lost their beautiful books and school bags under the rubble, their schools were destroyed and what remained of them became shelters for the displaced, and they were deprived of their right to education, which is guaranteed by all international and humanitarian covenants.
Interventions
While the school year in the West Bank began in a difficult and unstable political situation, the year of war on Gaza is still ongoing, which raises the question about the role played by the Ministry of Education to ensure the right of students to receive their education, even at a minimum level.
Ministry spokesman Sadiq al-Khudur said that 700,000 students in the West Bank went to school today, and there are another 630,000 in Gaza, and they are in the process of arranging interventions to save them. He explained, “We had a plan decided upon by the Council of Ministers to save education in Gaza after the end of the aggression, but it has been prolonged and the ministry will begin implementing what is possible from this plan.”
With two governments succeeding each other in this war, it was necessary to ask about the role of each one? According to Al-Khudour, the previous government laid out the frameworks and features of this general plan, while the current one made it more detailed, comprehensive and clear, “that is, this plan, which has not yet seen the light of day, is the cumulative effort of two successive governments.”
Regarding interventions, he added that they combine virtual and face-to-face, as there are new virtual schools that will be launched within days, and educational materials will be provided “offline and online”, and Internet distribution points in cooperation with telecommunications companies. As for face-to-face education, Al-Khudour confirmed that the ministry is in the process of forming an incubator for all individual and institutional initiatives to be their organizing thread.
Al-Khudour explained that priority will be given to primary school students, as there are 70,000 students who are supposed to start their school life this year. As for the 39,000 Tawjihi students who have not yet taken the high school exam, “the ministry is doing its utmost to enable them to complete the exam and enroll in universities as soon as possible and before the end of 2024.”
He pointed out that 88 thousand university students were greatly affected by this war, their universities were destroyed, and many of their distinguished lecturers were martyred. He added that the Ministry of Education worked on some interventions and initiatives with the universities of the West Bank, and is now looking into more options and practical expenses to save what can be saved.
Al-Khudour appealed to the UN institutions to provide their students with the right to education, adding that the latest statistics show that 290 schools out of 370 suffered moderate to severe damage, while the schools that suffered minor damage are being used as shelters in Gaza. According to him, 3,000 students have become disabled as a result of the war, in addition to the martyrdom of 400 school staff, 100 university staff, and the damage to 31 university buildings.
Initiatives
For her part, educational supervisor Najla Khasib ruled out the return of formal education before the end of the war, “We cannot talk about that if the student is suffering from hunger, fear, and insecurity, and his basic needs are not available.”
In her opinion, the best solution in wartime conditions is to use all possible means to teach children simple life skills that help them relieve their psychological stress and teach them the ability to support themselves. She says that official bodies should compile lists of teachers who can implement educational initiatives in Gaza, and supervise and support them as much as possible.
It also suggests launching other virtual initiatives in which West Bank teachers would be part of them, teaching some basic subjects in groups, and providing psychological support sessions and recreational activities.
Khasib stressed the need for the Ministry to hold psychological support sessions for Gaza teachers, both male and female, to help them and guide them out of this crisis, and for private and civil sector institutions to take it upon themselves to implement educational initiatives and try to provide the basic needs to support these initiatives.