Gaza – Ma’an Special Report – After the loss of the last school year in the Gaza Strip, educational problems still exist, whether for the displaced inside the Strip or outside it, specifically in Egypt.

The Ministry of Education and the UNRWA Education Department, in addition to individual initiatives, are trying to push the wheel of education back into action in the Gaza Strip after the loss of the last school year and the start of a new school year without any change on the ground.

Recently, the Ministry in Ramallah published links to virtual schools that rely on distance learning, and witnessed a great turnout and multiple attempts by citizens to register. However, citizens wishing to register face many obstacles, most notably the weak speed of the available internet and its significant increase in prices.

Parents are forced to pay large sums of money to obtain internet service to register their children, but obtaining lessons on a regular basis seems extremely difficult. (The minimum is three shekels f
or 12 hours, sometimes more expensive. And the internet is unable to download lessons because they are audio and video).

Citizens wishing to register face many obstacles, most notably the poor speed of the available internet and its very high prices.

Citizens rely mainly on what is known as street internet, which is sold via anonymous cards.

Mohammed Alian, a displaced person from Gaza to Khan Younis, said he has three children of primary and secondary school age. ‘I went to an internet café to register the children, and I succeeded after several attempts.’ But the problem now is providing the internet to attend school classes in a tent that has no electricity or internet.

He added, “Charging the phone requires an amount of money and providing the Internet requires another amount, stressing that the ministry’s initiative is not sufficient.”

For its part, UNRWA opened some classrooms inside its schools that had been transformed into displacement centers.

UNRWA succeeded in convincing the displaced to giv
e up some classrooms to convert them into school classes, but the large numbers prevented the idea from succeeding.

Israeli bombing of displacement centres and frequent movement constitute another obstacle to the success of initiatives to save education.

Inside the displacement tents, Palestinian teachers gather children under the age of 12 and provide some lessons in tents for Arabic and mathematics.

Tawjihi..

Regarding last year’s high school, the ministry decided to provide special explanations and specify the curriculum for them so that they can apply next February, but the matter has not yet been completed and there are no guarantees that the special atmosphere that ensures the success of the process will be available.

Students abroad…and the ministry’s negligence

With the displacement of more than 100,000 citizens to Egypt and other Arab countries, the displaced complain about the ministry’s failure to open special schools for them to help them integrate into the educational process.

Egyptian s
chools refuse to accept Gaza students because they do not have residency in Egypt.

Students were forced to go to private centers that teach the Palestinian curriculum, and the student has to take an exam with the ministry ‘online,’ which exhausts the student who has to follow up with the centers for several hours a day in person, and then with the ministry’s lessons.

Naseem Al-Sawalmeh, father of four children, called on the Ministry of Education to coordinate with these centers and adopt them as an alternative to schools until the crisis is resolved.

One thousand students from Gaza succeeded in taking the high school exam in Egypt, and they are among 38 thousand students who were unable to get the same opportunity.

Source: Maan News Agency