Education in Gaza: A Struggle for Survival and a Battle for Sovereignty over Awareness

The education sector in Gaza is witnessing an unprecedented existential crisis, whose descriptions are no longer limited to the "collateral damage" of wars, but have escalated to a complete "cognitive genocide." In the context of the genocide committed by the Israeli army, and over two years since the conflict, its effects remain evident. Gazans find themselves facing a paralyzed educational scene, not only due to the destructive bombardment of buildings but also due to systematic policies aimed at dismantling the right to learn and emptying the Palestinian community of its human and intellectual capital.

I witness the education sector in Gaza daily, not from a distant analytical perspective, but as a direct experience with the children and students who struggle every day amidst a continuing genocide. Here, school represents not just a building, but has become a temporary space of refuge amid the devastation, a sanctuary that tries to protect what remains of childhood exposed to bombing, fear, and displacement.

I am displaced in the city of Gaza after my home was destroyed, and today I live next to two schools that were partially damaged and are being used as shelters for the displaced. In one of the encampments set up in the courtyards of the two schools, a group of students gathered around their teacher in a narrow and humble corner, sharing a single textbook that survived the rubble. There were no desks or boards, just a few papers and barely functioning pens. The atmosphere was charged with heat and noise from around the tent, while the children tried to focus amidst the clamor and chaos.

Despite all this, the students raised their hands enthusiastically to answer questions, as if they were defending their dream before asserting their right to learn. Their eyes sparkled with hope despite their fatigue and fear from the sounds of explosions coming from the east of the city and daily airstrikes, their fragmented voices expressing an unbreakable will. The teacher, despite the harsh conditions, remained steadfast, responding to every question and offering words of encouragement, as if planting seeds of knowledge in a desert of rubble.

In these moments, education becomes to Palestinian children more than just a school duty; it is hope, life, and the future—a lifeline amidst destruction. Even under the oppressive silence of ongoing danger, children insist on learning, dreaming, and surviving, affirming that knowledge is their last fortress against displacement and forgetfulness.

Education Under the Guillotine of Systematic Destruction

The language of numbers in Gaza does not only speak of material loss but screams of the scale of human loss that will leave scars on the faces of future generations. Here we are talking about deprivation and its deep human meanings, as nearly 660,000 children are denied their fundamental right to formal education. And when we know that more than 95 percent of educational facilities have been damaged or completely destroyed, we realize that the Israeli army is not just targeting walls but is indeed targeting "the future" and subsequent generations.

This destruction has impacted 285 public schools and a third of the schools of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Worse still, what remains of these schools has turned into forced shelters for the displaced, lacking the most basic elements of human dignity. The destruction of schools does not only mean the loss of educational buildings but also the collapse of an essential part of the social structure that protects children and provides them with a sense of stability. For Palestinian children, the school is not merely a place to learn but is a space for daily life, social relationships, and the reconstruction of a sense of safety.

When schools are destroyed or converted into shelters, the educational process is not just interrupted, but childhood itself suffers severe damage.

As for universities, they have been widely affected by destruction, with more than 80 percent of higher education buildings destroyed, academic records lost, hundreds of academics martyred, and laboratories and libraries destroyed. The targeting of universities becomes the pinnacle of cognitive genocide; it is an attempt to render the community ignorant and sever its ties with global scientific advancement, making the rebuilding of the intellectual and professional elite a sacred national mission. For Palestinians, education is a sacred institution.

The Experience of Popular Education: Restoring Collective Spirit and Reference of Resilience

To understand the depth of the current challenge, we must not view the Gaza crisis as an isolated event, but rather as a link in a long chain of attempts to domesticate Palestinian awareness. Here, the utmost importance arises in returning to the "historical memory of popular education." During the first intifada (1987–1993), Palestinians faced a policy of school and university closures pursued by the occupation to break the popular movement. At that pivotal moment, education transformed from a mere educational process into a sovereign "act of resistance."

"Alternative education" initiatives emerged within homes, mosques, and churches, where informal educational networks were established, run by teachers, students, and the local community in an unparalleled show of solidarity. This experience proved that society is the true incubator of education when formal institutions collapse and that national awareness is an unbreakable pillar.

Evoking this model today is not merely nostalgia and longing for a bygone era but a practical necessity to innovate flexible educational solutions that challenge the rubble of war, based on a long heritage of "stubborn knowledge" that characterizes the Palestinian individual.

The Guardian of the Dream: The Palestinian Teacher

It is impossible to discuss the resumption of the educational process in Gaza or planning for the next day without standing in reverence before the file of employees and educational staff; those who have never been mere job numbers but rather "the beating memory of the institution" and guardians of the Palestinian dream in the darkest and harshest circumstances.

Today, in the face of calls for development and reform, we are not confronting renewal, but we yearn to see new blood flowing in the veins of our educational system. However, we firmly believe that true renewal does not begin from "ground zero" but is built upon the foundations of experience laid by the hands of pioneering teachers. These teachers are the ones who have accompanied the education file since the earliest moments of the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority, and even before it, in years of resilience and insistence on education. They are the ones who transformed simple classrooms into fortresses of thought, struggling with chalk and books to shape the features of national identity in the minds of generations that have endured under the weight of blockade and wars.

The Palestinian teacher is the staff that possesses "practical experience" earned through sweat and sacrifice; how can any reconstruction plan surpass those who have devoted their lives to instilling values of belonging and building the educational system brick by brick? Integrating them, honoring them, and providing them with all forms of material and moral security is a recognition of the wonderful years of effort, and it is the only guarantee for preventing the collapse of the educational structure. The Palestinian teacher is the compass, and protecting their existence and stability is a protection of Palestinian identity itself.

Sovereignty and Illusion... The Dilemma of the National Committee for Managing Education

With the emergence of discussions about the "next day" and the formation of the "National Committee for Gaza Management," fundamental questions arise about the limits of authority and actual sovereignty. The file of managing education raises real concerns; while the committee is supposed to oversee the educational process, its presumed affiliation to international administrative structures, such as the executive council headed by Nikolai Meladnov, puts its national independence at risk.

Education in the Palestinian context cannot be managed with the mentality of a "technical agency" that executes donors' agendas only. The greatest danger lies in transforming education into a battleground for "restructuring awareness" beyond national references, under the guise of "reform" that could strip the issue of its historical and revolutionary content. Therefore, this committee must be a "national shield" that protects the independence of curricula and ensures that the educational process remains connected to the cultural and political context, based on the experience of the cadres that built this system since the mid-1990s and before.

UNRWA: The Target of Political Assassination

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) represents more than just a service provider; it is the living international witness to the tragedy of displacement, administering a huge educational apparatus that includes thousands of teachers with exceptional experience in crisis management.

The frenzied Israeli campaign to dismantle UNRWA is, in essence, an attempt to erase the right of return and destroy the educational infrastructure that has formed a safety valve for hundreds of thousands. Protecting UNRWA’s role, in conjunction with governmental roles, is an utmost national necessity to ensure that an educational gap does not occur, leading to the loss of an entire generation in the depths of ignorance and poverty.

The Best Interest of The Child

The talk of "curriculum changes" as a condition for reconstruction or for receiving international funding raises significant concern, as educational curricula are the last fortress of national identity. Any attempt to tamper with historical memory or erase concepts of resilience completes the war with soft tools targeting the child’s mind after the body has been targeted.

The principle of the best interest of the child is fundamental to protecting Palestinian children in the midst of genocide. This does not only mean the right to sit at a school desk but requires a safe and stable environment that helps the child grow, learn, and regain their stolen childhood. Education must be accompanied by real psychological and social support to enable children to cope with trauma, regain a sense of security and belonging, and lead their normal lives, despite loss and displacement. The school, even if it is a tent or a temporary room, must become a space for protection and building trust in life.

The Path Back to the School Desk

To rescue the education sector from this disaster, a comprehensive national strategy must be adopted that considers education a sovereign priority: treating books and blackboards as emergency relief tools that are as essential as medicine and food, and empowering the national committee by providing clear political support that ensures its independence and ability to make exceptional national decisions.

Most importantly, protecting the facilities and cadres: international pressure must be applied to stop targeting what remains of schools, and the teacher must be considered "protected" under international law as human personnel. Flexible education models can also be adopted by developing temporary schools (tents and caravans) in displacement areas, providing accelerated learning programs to compensate for the immense educational loss.

In parallel, teacher stability must be ensured, meaning securing financial and job rights for all teachers who have spent their years serving this system, and providing them with psychological safety so they can give their all.

Not Just a Dream... But a Foundation for the Future

What is happening in Gaza today is not just a fleeting educational crisis but a test of the will of an entire generation and its ability to survive and excel despite attempts to crush it. The displaced child reading and doing homework, seeking a spot in a narrow, dim corner of the tent, with a teacher beside them who has bandaged their wounds to give them a lesson in will, sends a message to the world that "the right to awareness is the essence of the struggle and the condition for victory."

Education in Gaza cannot be reduced to being merely a basic right; it is the daily life that tries to continue despite destruction, a dream of a different future, and a tool for survival and hope in a reality that threatens everything. For Palestinians, education is a lifeline that protects the community from breaking, and from the rubble have emerged generations carrying their cause to the world.

The battle to rebuild education in Gaza is not merely about reconstructing schools; it is a battle to protect Palestinian awareness and the future. If we succeed in safeguarding our children’s minds and preserving the dignity of our teachers who built this system with their sweat and patience over long decades, we would have laid the true foundation for the future of Gaza.

Education in Gaza will remain an act of resilience and liberation at the same time, and our historical responsibility is to protect this light from extinguishing, and to ensure that the book remains open in the hands of the Palestinian child even in the darkest moments.