Students at the Islamic University of Gaza have re-enrolled in in-person classes for the first time in two years as a result of Israel’s genocide against the besieged Palestinian enclave.
About 500 displaced families are now residing in these buildings that Israel’s relentless assault has rendered hollow shells. This Gaza City university, which reopened following the ceasefire in October, is now a home to.
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The former lecture halls’ original locations, which were stark examples of Gaza’s dual crises of homelessness and educational collapse, are now covered in tents.
One of the students looking for safety on campus, Atta Siam, said, “We came here after being displaced from Jabalia because we had nowhere else to go.” However, this is a place for education. It’s a place where our kids can study, not as a shelter.
Despite conditions that don’t closely resemble a functioning university, thousands of students have rekindled hope as a result of the partially resumed classes.
Since the start of the war in October 2023, UNESCO estimates that more than 95 percent of Gaza’s higher education facilities have suffered significant damage or destruction.
Youmna Albaba, a first-year medical student, claimed she had a dream about enrolling in a university that was properly equipped.
She said, “I need a place where I can concentrate fully and with all the necessary qualifications.” “But I didn’t find what I had imagined here,” she continued. I do still believe that everything is being built from scratch.
More than 750, 000 Palestinian students have been left without education for two consecutive academic years by what human rights organizations and experts from the UN have called “scholasticide,” according to the Gaza-based organization Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.
Recent statistics reveal that 137 of the country’s 494 schools and universities have been completely or partially destroyed, with 137 of those destroying themselves. According to Al Mezan’s report from January, there were 12,800 students killed, along with 760 teachers, educational staff, and 150 academics and researchers.
In January 2024, Israeli forces destroyed Isra University, which was the last remaining university in Gaza.
In the face of power cuts, equipment shortages, and subpar learning environments, professors at the Islamic University are using whatever resources are available. Dr. Adel Awadallah compared using plastic sheets to accomodate as many students as possible by covering exposed walls with plastic sheets. He claimed that we have borrowed motors to run the university’s equipment.
Taus of students rely on these temporary arrangements to continue their education despite only four classrooms being operational.
In April 2024, UN experts warned that the destruction might be a deliberate attempt to scuttle Palestinian society’s foundations.
Their statement read, “As schools are destroyed, so are hopes and dreams,” referring to the pattern of attacks as systematic violence against the educational infrastructure.
Beyond just physical destruction, the difficulties are greater. Families with limited access to food, water, and medicine find it nearly impossible to support children’s education.
Electricity blackouts, internet outages, and ongoing displacement have undermined the Ministry of Education and UNRWA’s remote learning initiatives.
Yet, students continue to study. They have consistently identified returning to school as a top priority, a chance to reclaim normalcy and their futures, despite the trauma of more than two years of Israeli bombardment and the loss of family members.
Source: Aljazeera
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