Gaza has long stood as a beacon of educational resilience in the face of adversity. Under colonial rule, military occupation, and economic blockade, the people of Gaza cultivated a culture of learning that transformed classrooms into sanctuaries of hope. Education was more than an academic pursuit—it was a collective act of resistance, a means to assert identity, and a vehicle for justice. But in the wake of the ongoing war, that proud tradition is under existential threat. The genocide that began in October 2023 has not only claimed thousands of lives and destroyed homes—it has also shattered Gaza educational justice, turning a once-thriving educational system into a ghost of its former self.
A History of Learning Against the Odds
Education has deep roots in Palestinian society, and Gaza was no exception. During the Ottoman period, Palestinian students traveled to centers of higher learning like Istanbul, Cairo, and Beirut. Under the British Mandate, when colonial authorities limited educational access, Palestinian farmers built schools with their own hands in rural areas. Following the Nakba of 1948 and the creation of refugee camps, Gazans made education one of the earliest social services available to displaced communities. Classrooms often lacked walls or roofs, but never lacked passion.
In Gaza City, the Islamic University opened in tents before it had a campus. Students crammed into makeshift spaces to listen to lectures. Families—regardless of income—prioritized sending children to school. A crowded alley filled with children walking to school was a daily sight, symbolizing a collective commitment to the future.
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The Rise of Gaza Educational Justice
By 2023, Gaza’s education system had defied the odds to become one of the most equitable in the region. Literacy rates reached a staggering 97%, secondary school enrollment hovered around 90%, and nearly half the young adult population pursued higher education. These achievements weren’t accidental—they were the result of deliberate policies aimed at educational justice.
Education in Gaza was largely free from the primary to the secondary levels. Government schools, alongside those run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), ensured universal access. Textbooks were distributed without cost, school supplies were subsidized, and children from low-income families received uniforms and other support.
At the tertiary level, Gaza maintained a network of public and private universities that offered scholarships, tuition waivers, and even educational loans. A government university offered degrees at symbolic fees, while private institutions and vocational colleges kept costs moderate. External scholarship programs, often supported by foreign governments, gave students opportunities to study abroad.
Despite the Israeli blockade, academic excellence and innovation thrived. Gaza hosted science fairs, literature competitions, and technology expos. Education wasn’t just an aspiration—it was the very backbone of Gaza’s social and moral fabric.
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October 2023: The Day the Classrooms Fell Silent
Everything changed in October 2023. The escalation of Israel’s military operations turned schools and universities into targets. According to United Nations data, 496 of 564 schools—roughly 88%—were damaged or destroyed in a matter of months. Entire universities were flattened, erasing decades of infrastructure in days. Lecture halls, science labs, libraries, and sports fields became rubble.
More than 645,000 school-aged children were left without classrooms. An additional 90,000 university students saw their academic futures evaporate overnight. Thousands of educators were killed, displaced, or incapacitated. The war not only destroyed buildings—it dismantled the very soul of Gaza educational justice.
Surviving Through Makeshift Classrooms and Digital Desperation
Despite the destruction, the spirit of Gaza’s education sector didn’t die. Volunteers set up tent schools in displacement camps, where young teachers offered free lessons under tarpaulin roofs. University professors turned to digital platforms—Google Classroom, Telegram, Zoom, and WhatsApp—to continue instruction. These efforts were nothing short of heroic, but they came at a cost.
Online education is heavily reliant on technology and connectivity—luxuries in a war-torn enclave. Students who lost their tablets or laptops in bombings couldn’t afford replacements. Access to electricity and internet was patchy and expensive, with some private workspaces charging up to $5 an hour—an impossible sum for displaced families.
To bridge the learning gap, private tutoring centers sprang up. But with fees ranging from $25–$30 per subject per month, the total cost quickly reached $240—far beyond the reach of most Gazans. Higher education fared no better. After a single tuition-free semester of online learning, universities began asking students to pay partial fees. The result? Mass dropouts and a growing divide between the rich and the poor.
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The Collapse of Equity
Before the war, Gaza’s education model was a rare example of social equity in action. Today, that model lies in ruins. For the first time in generations, access to education is being dictated by class and wealth. Poor students, once protected by a robust public system, are now being excluded from learning altogether. The disappearance of Gaza educational justice is not just a collateral casualty—it’s a calculated outcome of prolonged war and blockade.
The education system had served as one of the last bastions of hope in a region battered by conflict. Its collapse now means the erosion of future opportunities for an entire generation. When schools fall, so do dreams—and the psychological toll is profound. Children once eager to become doctors, teachers, and engineers now battle trauma, homelessness, and hunger.
Global Silence and the Price of Inaction
The destruction of Gaza’s education infrastructure has been met with deafening silence from much of the international community. While some humanitarian agencies have condemned the targeting of schools and universities, global powers have largely turned a blind eye to the implications.
By international law, educational institutions are protected spaces. Their systematic targeting not only violates human rights but also amounts to cultural erasure. The war on Gaza’s education is a war on its future, its memory, and its resistance.
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The Fight for Reconstruction
Rebuilding Gaza’s education system will take more than bricks and mortar. It will require international accountability, sustained funding, and grassroots mobilization. Crucially, it will need the return of a political and social vision centered on justice and equality.
Palestinian educators, despite their losses, remain determined. There is already talk of forming independent educational collectives, revising curricula to address trauma, and building open-access digital libraries. But without a ceasefire, these efforts will remain symbolic at best.
The fall of Gaza’s education system is more than a loss of schools—it is the unraveling of a dream nurtured for generations. Gaza educational justice once allowed a besieged people to transcend their suffering and imagine a better world. That dream has now been buried under rubble, torn pages, and lost futures. Yet even in the darkest moments, the spirit of education survives. What remains to be seen is whether the world will help rebuild—not just with aid, but with justice.
