Higher Education Launches Joint Cultural Competitions for University and College Students

SadaNews - On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, through the Guidance, Counseling, and Student Affairs Unit, launched a series of joint cultural competitions for students of Palestinian higher education institutions, for the academic year 2025-2026, in partnership with the Student Activities Committee.

These competitions, launched under the title "Resilience and Challenge," embody an integrated vision combining knowledge, creativity, and social and national responsibility, enabling students to transform their ideas into impactful works that contribute to preserving the national narrative and enhance students' roles in positive influence and change.

The ministry clarified that the deadline for submitting works to the Deanship of Student Affairs is Thursday, April 30, 2026, and that participants can review the conditions for participation in the competitions by consulting the Deanships of Student Affairs in higher education institutions. It was noted that financial prizes will be awarded to the winners.

The competitions include a short story category under the theme "A Special Case - A Community Issue," aiming to turn suffering into a space for positive expression, and to promote values of cooperation, compassion, respect, and solidarity, contributing to establishing a vision for a more just and humane society, as well as the drawing competition "Resilience and Birth" as a visual creative act depicting a community or national event.

They also include the short documentary film competition "The Tale of a Place," which focuses on the resilience and challenges faced by the Palestinian people on their land amid the policies of occupation that impose a new reality of settlement, forced displacement, and instability for our Palestinian people. This highlights issues such as the Jordan Valley and Masafer Yatta, among other historical and geographical sites in Palestine, standing witness to these policies and steadfastly resisting them.

The competitions also feature the literary essay "The Beauty of the Arabic Language," viewed as a cultural and civilizational treasure carrying the history of an ancient nation, and a renewed mindset capable of creativity and regeneration. The concern for the Arabic language is not merely a linguistic practice but a message of resilience for authenticity and creativity, a vessel for our collective identity, a source of our civilizational strength, and a spacious horizon for an authentic future.

Additionally, the poetry competition "Gaza Will Remain" showcases students' poetic abilities and talents. "In a time when adversities increase, and the responsibility of words grows, poetry emerges as an act of existence, a voice of memory, and a bridge connecting human sentiment with the justice of the Palestinian cause. This competition provides a free creative space for students of higher education institutions to express their national and human belonging, transforming pain into hope and suffering into a vibrant poem of resilience, preserving Gaza's place in consciousness and sentiment, and affirming that sincere words can resist oblivion and create an impact."

It is noted that the ministry organizes annually a series of purposeful student activities that gather Palestinian higher education students and direct them towards the issues of their homeland and society, within its goal of creating a university environment that fosters creativity and safeguards national identity.