As a new school year opens around the world, the children and teens of Gaza remain without their right to education, as schools in the Gaza Strip remain closed for 11 straight months, since October 7th 2023.
All school and university students in the Gaza Strip have been prevented from attending schools, and have lost an entire schools year, due to the continuous bombing of various parts of the Gaza Strip, as well as the direct targeting of schools and universities.
Schools have seen the displacement of thousands of families, and according to the United Nations, about 1.9 million people (in the Gaza Strip) are displaced, including people who have been displaced repeatedly.
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education stated in a statement issued today, Sunday, that the occupation’s aggression on Gaza resulted in the targeting of more than 25,000 children killed and wounded, including at least 10,000 school students killed, amid the destruction of 90% of the 307 government school buildings.
The ministry pointed out that the aggression, which is approaching the end of a full year, has deprived more than 630 thousand students of their right to education since October 7th, in addition to more than 58 thousand who are supposed to join the first grade in the new academic year, in addition to 39 thousand who did not take the high school exam.
Several Palestinian unions and institutions issued a position statement today, Sunday, calling on the international community to save Palestinian schools from educational genocide, as part of the activities of the international academic campaign to combat the Israeli occupation and apartheid.
The coalition of unions noted that September 9th is also the International Day to Protect Education from Armed Attack, in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 74/275, to protect education from attacks, the signatories to this statement called on the international community and UN member states to take immediate measures to protect Palestinian education from Israeli military attacks.
These military attacks were carried out deliberately and planned, to achieve genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, and the necessity of saving Palestinian schools from Israeli aggression.
The coalition called for an immediate ceasefire and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, including the reconstruction of the educational infrastructure in the Strip, and holding Israel accountable for its crimes against education and children, and the demolition and storming of schools.
The statement also stressed the need to take immediate measures to protect schools, as places that provide protection and safety for students and teachers, while keeping education at the top of the global programme’s priorities.
