How Israel has destroyed Gaza’s schools and universities
Palestinian children walk past debris in the courtyard of a school run by UNRWA following Israeli airstrikes targeting Gaza City, 9 October 2023
Sarah Shamim reports in Al Jazeera on 24 January 2024:
Grade five and six students at the Rosary Sister’s School in Gaza were supposed to sit for a science test on October 9, 2023, two days after Israel launched its devastating military assault on Gaza. But they never got to sit the test. The school along with its library and theatre was destroyed by the Israeli army on November 4, according to Ruwaida Amer, who taught science at the private school.
Hundreds of schools, including those run by the UN, in the besieged Palestinian enclave have been bombed, and students and teachers killed, in more than 100 days of Israeli bombardment that has ravaged educational infrastructure and caused mental trauma to thousands of beleaguered students.
January 24 marks the sixth International Day of Education as proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, but tens of thousands of Gaza students cannot go to schools, which are lying in ruins.
Here’s a look at how the war has taken a toll on Gaza’s education infrastructure:
How many schools and students are in the Gaza Strip?
More than 40 percent of schools (288) in Gaza are run by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), while the rest are either directly operated by the Palestinian Authority or privately managed.
All of them are currently shut as more than 85 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced amid continued Israeli ground and air offensive that has killed more than 25,000 people, including 10,000 children.
According to UNRWA data from 2018, Gaza had 737 schools. At least 9,367 teachers work in the 288 UNRWA schools.
How many children are out of school in Gaza?
No Gaza student has been able to attend school since November 6, 2023, when the Ministry of Education suspended the 2023-2024 school year due to the war that has seen indiscriminate targeting of residential areas, including offices and schools. Israel has defended itself, saying it was battling Hamas fighters but rights groups say Tel Aviv has made little efforts to protect civilians.
OCHA reported on October 27, 2023 that there were more than 625,000 pupils and more than 22,500 teachers in Gaza.