RAMALLAH, (PIC)
A new school year begins today Monday amid ongoing genocide in Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, and escalating aggression in the West Bank. For the past 11 months, students in Gaza schools and universities have been denied access to education due to the continuous brutal Israeli aggression, the destruction of homes, and the perpetration of massacres.
As a result of the ongoing barbaric war, schools have become shelters for thousands of displaced people whose homes have been destroyed. Furthermore, Israel has committed horrific massacres within these schools.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that 200 of its schools have been completely or partially destroyed due to ongoing Israeli bombardment. The Ministry of Education and Higher Education said in a press release that the Israeli occupation’s aggression against Gaza has resulted in more than 25,000 casualties among children, including over 10,000 school students, amid the destruction of 90% of the buildings of public schools, which number 307.
The ministry indicated that the aggression, which is approaching a year, has deprived more than 630,000 students of their right to education since October 7 of last year, in addition to over 58,000 children who are supposed to enter first grade in the new school year, as well as 39,000 who did not sit for the general secondary examination.
The dream of returning to school
Eight-year-old student Mohammed Al-Khatib talks about his dream of returning to school and wishes for the end of the war so he can sit in his classroom. He tells the Palestinian Information Center reporter that he attended school for only a month and a half before the war, and now returning to school has become a dream.
The school year is officially launched today, Monday, in the West Bank and Jerusalem, in 2,459 public and private schools, as well as those operated by UNRWA, with over 806,360 students enrolled, receiving education from 51,447 teachers.
A plan to rescue the school year in Gaza
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Sadiq Al-Khadour, said that the ministry intends to begin practical steps to implement its plan to rescue education in Gaza. He noted in a press statement the significant turnout for registration in virtual schools for e-learning designated for students in the enclave, as part of emergency interventions awaiting stability on the ground for comprehensive interventions to be implemented.
Al-Khadour added that the ministry has prepared plans for the new school year aimed at achieving the highest possible level of in-person education, taking into account the developments in the field related to the violations of the occupation army and settler gangs in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, which have resulted in the martyrdom of 78 children who are school students and two educational staff members since October 7.
Housing instead of education
At Hamad School, families whose homes have been destroyed by the occupation are using the school classrooms as shelters instead of welcoming students. Citizen Suad Alwan (55 years old) said that the occupation army destroyed her apartment in Hamad City, north of Khan Yunis, and that she and her children had to live in one of the classrooms.
She adds in a conversation with the Palestinian Information Center reporter that her daughter Alaa was supposed to return to the same school in the sixth grade, but the school has become a shelter for displaced people. Alaa told our reporter that she is in a difficult situation, saying, “The school is nice, and we want to go back to learning there instead of living in it.”
For the first time since the Palestinian Nakba, the general secondary examinations were held in the West Bank, excluding the Gaza Strip.
Al-Khadour, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, explained that his ministry’s intervention in Gaza aims to rescue both the previous and current school years within a single academic agenda. He noted that in the first half of the year, efforts will focus on salvaging the previous year by covering the required subjects for students, and then starting the current school year in the second half of the same year.
He pointed out that implementing the plan requires intensifying time, educational material, and adopting a system of summaries instead of textbooks. He also mentioned that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry prepared condensed educational materials for the textbooks that focus on the core content in each subject, which students need to study in preparation for the next grade.
Internet issues
Regarding the inability of a large portion of students in Gaza to enroll in these schools due to weak and interrupted internet service, Al-Khadour stated that the ministry will address this issue on two levels. The first is to provide more broadcasting points and strengthen internet service in collaboration with Palestinian telecommunications companies, especially in areas with displaced people.
On the second level, Al-Khadour explained that lessons will be recorded so that students can attend them later if internet access is unavailable or interrupted.
Concerning the difficulty of obtaining tablets, especially for parents with multiple students, Al-Khadour mentioned that the ministry is discussing with its international partners the provision of tablets as much as possible. He noted that if there are multiple students in a family, it is not necessary for them to attend classes at the same time.
Regarding the fate of secondary school students who were unable to take the final exam last year, Al-Khadour said that the ministry has announced its commitment to hold a special session for them by the end of 2024, at the latest between the two semesters, to rescue their academic year. New students this year will also be present at the end of the year.
The new school year 2024-2025 has begun amid a wide-ranging military operation in the northern West Bank cities, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarem, with daily incursions and clashes, amid Israeli fears of a popular uprising.
According to data published by the Ministry of Education, the total number of students enrolled in the West Bank is 806,361, including 616,757 in public schools, 45,500 in UNRWA schools, and 144,104 in private schools. There are 2,459 schools in the West Bank, including 1,937 public schools, 96 UNRWA schools, and 426 private schools. The total number of teachers in these schools is approximately 51,500, including 39,500 in public schools, 1,947 in UNRWA schools, and 10,000 in private schools.
In contrast, more than 630,000 students in Gaza have been deprived of attending school for the second consecutive year, including over 58,000 children who missed entering first grade, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education. The ministry clarified that since the onset of the genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, 90% of school buildings across all governorates of the Strip have been damaged, while 39,000 students were unable to take the general secondary exam last year.
The Ministry of Education announced on September 4 the launch of a website for registering students in all educational stages in Gaza to learn in virtual schools (e-learning). The ministry stated in an announcement published on its official Facebook page: “In line with the ministry’s commitment to resume the educational process to save last year’s academic year and then start the new school year, we hope that students in Gaza currently present in the Strip will register via the link.”
The ministry added that this is a precursor to launching virtual schools, “as part of a series of interventions planned to commence alongside the start of the new school year in the northern governorates.”
