Gaza Schoolchildren Struggling to Learn

"When they hear Israeli jet planes, the children scream and cry loudly out of fear" -Khalid Salim 43, a science teacher in Gaza

(GAZA STRIP) - Nearly half a million children in Gaza returned to overcrowded and dilapidated schools on 1 February, many attending in a shift system, with missing textbooks, stationery or uniforms.

"I don't have a school uniform because my Dad doesn't have a job and said he doesn't have enough money to buy me one," said Mohammed al-Khouli, a nine-year-old at the government-run al-Mu'tasem primary school in Gaza City. "I have to borrow pens and pencils from other kids in my class because I don't have any."

Israel's 23-day military offensive on Gaza which ended on 18 January 2009 had "devastating consequences for the education system", according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Some 440,000 students attend 640 schools in Gaza; 383 are government schools, 221 are run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and 36 are private schools, according to the ministry of education and UNRWA.

The OCHA report said at least 280 schools were damaged in the conflict, including 18 that were completely destroyed.

The education ministry said none have been rebuilt or repaired because of the Israeli ban on the entry into Gaza of construction materials, which Israel says could be used for military purposes.

The ministry reckons it needs some 25,000 tons of iron bars and 40,000 tons of cement to build 105 new schools to cater to the annual rise in the number of schoolchildren.

"The war had and continues to have a severely negative impact on the entire education system," Yousef Ibrahim, deputy education minister in Gaza, told IRIN, adding that about 15,000 children from damaged schools had been transferred to other schools for second shifts, thus "significantly shortening class time".

Ibrahim said many damaged schools in use lacked functioning toilets, water and electricity; classrooms were overcrowded and there were shortages of basic items such as desks, doors, chairs and ink. He said half all students in government schools lacked at least one textbook for coursework this term.

UNRWA began distributing textbooks to all its students on 4 February, according to Khalil al-Halabi, UNRWA's education chief in Gaza. But he said rising unemployment and poverty were leading to more hungry students in classrooms.

According to the education ministry, 164 students and 12 teachers in its schools were killed in the conflict. UNRWA said 86 children and three teachers were killed in its schools.

"Schoolchildren, thousands of whom lost family members and/or their homes, are still suffering from trauma and anxiety, and are in need of psycho-social support and recreational play activities," said the OCHA report.

Khalid Salim 43, a science teacher at Abu Ja'far al-Mansour preparatory school in north Gaza said it was a struggle to teach children.

"Most of them don't understand the lessons; they don't concentrate at all... They forget everything explained in the class. When I give them exams, 80 percent fail. Before the war, just 3 percent failed," he said. "When they hear Israeli jet planes, the children scream and cry loudly out of fear."

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stoptheabuse February 9, 2010 10:03 am (Pacific time)

Thank you for this article. The world (especially Americans) must wake up to the atrocities that we are funding. These poor families in Gaza! These beautiful children who have nothing to live for, no future to look forward to! The world looks on idly doing NOTHING, while Israel screams loudly for protection and stupidly we just keep giving them more and more money to bomb the people of Palestine. it makes one wonder what the real deal is behind this. WE are accomplices to these crimes against humanity and unless enough people stand up and DO something about it, WWIII will break out and then it will ALL be over. All this bull about anti-semitism and infighting and not being able to call a spade a spade when it comes to Israel is a direct incursion on our first amendment rights. Young children and women and innocent civilians are being murdered in the name of Israel's security. They bomb the hell out of a population and then justify it by saying that 'they are scared, and that they need more money.' Any trained eye can see that it is a ploy to get more money. The halocaust IS continuing and is being perpetrated by the US and the Israeli's. Why is it ok to do this? because the Jews were hurt in WWII? well, LOTS of other people were killed in WWII...not only Jewish people. What gives them right to continue these disgusting displays of criminality and then keep on denying that they are doing them? They continuously hide behind this 'anti-semitism' issue and the fact that they are scared. Well, I would like to see how 'scared' they would be if someone did to THEM what they are doing to the Palestinians. My guess is that they would be the blatant cowards that they are and run to their underground shelters...a luxury of which the Palestinians do NOT have. When one looks at the fact that the Balfour Declaration was written BEFORE WWII and presented to Rothschild for 'approval', one can easily see that the halocaust was A PLANNED DISASTER (a ploy that is oftentimes used by special interest groups to justify their 'solutions')to create the state of Israel. Rothschild was A JEW himself!!! What a display of blatant inhumanity to man to sacrifice his OWN people for the sake of money. Now, the halocaust continues while the special interests rake in the dough but fomenting war. We MUST stop funding this.

gp February 8, 2010 2:41 pm (Pacific time)

All children have the basic human rights of living without fear, a roof, enough food, medical care and an education. To deny any child these basics is a crime against humanity. 50% of the population of Palestine are children. Israel is guilty of intentionally perpetrating a holocaust on the Palestinians. They are creating enemies even from friends who used to view their plight with sympathy. When will the world realize they have a enormous control on the media regarding their crimes. Even the UN will not condemn them without also condemning the tiny little pin prick attacks the tortured Palestinians are able to mount as though they were in any way comparable. There is always the caveat that the Palestinian violence is also condemned. The Israelis are abusing their right to be respected as human beings by treating others in the way they themselves were treated and then holding that Nazi treatment up as a shield against the world's condemnation of their present criminal acts against defenseless children.

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