In a small tent overshadowed by the sound of nearby gunfire, seven-year-old Tulin prepares for her first day of school in two years.<\/p>\n
For most children, this would be a moment of excitement. For Tulin and her mother, it is a chapter of terror.<\/p>\n
The relentless Israeli war has destroyed the vast majority of Gaza\u2019s educational infrastructure, forcing families to create makeshift \u201ctent schools\u201d in dangerous proximity to Israeli forces \u2014 an area demarcated by Israel as the \u201cyellow zone\u201d west of the separation line, often just a few metres away from danger.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil my daughter gets to school, I honestly walk with my heart in my hand,\u201d Tulin\u2019s mother told Al Jazeera correspondent Shady Shamieh.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany times, I find myself involuntarily following her until she reaches the school. I feel there is something [dangerous], but I want her to learn,\u201d she added. \u201cIf not for this situation, she would be in second grade now. But we are determined.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Interactive_TwoYearofGaza_EDUCATION_DESTROYED\"](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Interactive_TwoYearofGaza_2-10-1759764756.png?quality=80\")
<\/p>\n
\u2018Take the sleeping position\u2019<\/h2>\n
The journey to the classroom is perilous. Walking through the rubble of Beit Lahiya, Tulin admits she is terrified of the open spaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I go to school, I am afraid of the shooting,\u201d Tulin said. \u201cI can\u2019t find a wall to hide behind so the shelling or stray bullets don\u2019t hit us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside the tents, protection is nonexistent. The canvas walls cannot stop bullets, yet the students sit on the ground, determined to learn.<\/p>\n
Their teacher describes a harrowing daily routine where education is frequently interrupted by the crack of sniper fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe location is difficult, close to the occupation [forces],\u201d the teacher explained. \u201cWhen the shooting starts, we tell the children: \u2018Take the sleeping position.\u2019 I get goosebumps, praying to God that no injuries occur. We make them lie on the ground until the shooting stops.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been exposed to gunfire more than once,\u201d she added. \u201cDespite this, we remain. The occupation\u2019s policy is ignorance, and our policy is knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the students is Ahmed, who lost his father in the war. \u201cWe come with difficulty and leave with difficulty because of the shooting,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cBut I want to fulfil the dream of my martyred father, who wanted to see me become a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018One of the biggest catastrophes\u2019<\/h2>\n
The desperate scenes in Beit Lahiya reflect a wider collapse of the education system in the enclave.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic on Monday, Kazem Abu Khalaf, the spokesperson for UNICEF in Palestine, described the situation as \u201cone of the biggest catastrophes\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur figures indicate that 98 percent of all schools in the Gaza Strip have suffered varying degrees of damage, ranging up to total destruction,\u201d Abu Khalaf said.<\/p>\n
He noted that 88 percent of these schools require either comprehensive rehabilitation or complete reconstruction.<\/p>\n
The human toll is staggering: approximately 638,000 school-aged children and 70,000 kindergarten-aged children have lost two full academic years and are entering a third year of deprivation.<\/p>\n
Trauma and speech impediments<\/h2>\n
While UNICEF and its partners have established 109 temporary learning centres serving 135,000 students, the psychological scars of the war are surfacing in alarming ways.<\/p>\n
Abu Khalaf said that field teams have observed severe developmental regression among students and that it requires \u201dredoubled efforts\u201d from educational specialists.<\/p>\n
The ban on books<\/h2>\n
Beyond the structural destruction and trauma, the education sector faces a logistical blockade. Abu Khalaf confirmed that since the war began in October 2023, virtually no educational materials have been allowed into the Strip.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest challenge, in truth, is that \u2026 almost no learning materials have entered Gaza at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
UNICEF is currently preparing to launch a \u201cBack to Learning\u201d campaign targeting 200,000 children, focusing on Arabic, English, maths and science, alongside recreational activities to \u201crepair the children\u2019s psyche before anything else\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, Abu Khalaf emphasised that the success of any campaign depends on Israel lifting restrictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are communicating with all parties, including the Israeli side, to allow the entry of learning materials,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is not in anyone\u2019s interest for a child in Gaza not to go to school.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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In a small tent overshadowed by the sound of nearby gunfire, seven-year-old Tulin prepares for her first day of school in two years. For most children, this would be a moment of excitement. For Tulin and her mother, it is a chapter of terror. The relentless Israeli war has destroyed the vast majority of Gaza\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}