After a 3-year hiatus... Displacement tents shelter hundreds of thousands of Gaza students - Sarmad
Approximately 700,000 students in the Gaza Strip began the 2026-2027 academic year on Saturday under difficult humanitarian and educational conditions, after most school facilities were damaged or repurposed as shelters for displaced persons due to the war.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education stated that the continued destruction of schools and the removal of the majority from service have necessitated the use of tents and temporary spaces to accommodate students, despite their lack of basic educational equipment, including desks, blackboards, and learning materials.
According to available data, educational authorities have resorted to operating some of the remaining buildings on a multi-shift basis to accommodate as many students as possible given the limited available space.
The educational process faces a severe shortage of books, stationery, and school furniture, while many students sit on the ground inside educational tents. The Strip also suffers from accumulated learning losses following a prolonged interruption of schooling, which has widened the knowledge gap among students, particularly in reading, arithmetic, and science skills.
The Ministry noted that injured students and those with disabilities, including the blind and deaf, face additional difficulties in accessing education after the damage to schools and specialized centers, and the absence of educational environments adapted to their needs.
In an effort to continue the educational process, the Ministry is adopting a model that combines in-person lessons in tents and temporary centers with e-learning for students who are unable to attend due to displacement or security conditions.
The Ministry also warned of the worsening psychological impact on children, given the ongoing effects of shelling, displacement, and the loss of family members, emphasizing that providing psychosocial support has become a necessity parallel to the continuation of education.
