Tented classrooms and makeshift uniforms mark Gaza children's return to learning

An estimated 625,000 school pupils have already missed out on an entire year of education

Children attend an Arabic grammar class in a tent being used as an educational centre for primary pupils in Jabalia, the northern Gaza Strip. AFP

A year after she was set to begin sixth grade, on Monday Mira Al Sultan woke up earlier than usual and put on a makeshift uniform to attend her first day of school at a newly established education centre, after 11 months of war in Gaza.

On the first day of the academic year in the occupied territory, educators are finding ways to make learning possible again for some of Gaza's 625,000 pupils who have lost out on learning during the war. A further 58,000 children should be starting school for the first time, the Ministry of Education said.

Mira, 11, told The National: "I felt like it could make up for what we’ve lost. The teachers told us that the learning would be easy and little by little we’ll catch up on everything we’ve missed."

Her mother made sure her daughter was prepared, as she would have done before Israel's bombardment and ground war on the enclave began in October. Almost a year of war has demolished many of Gaza's schools and universities, in what has been called educide. Those school buildings still standing – Israeli air strikes have destroyed 285 of Gaza's 448 public school buildings – serve mainly as shelters for some of 90 per cent of Gazans who have been displaced.

“It was a nice feeling, even though the war is still ongoing," Mira said of her return to school on Monday. "I woke up in the morning, took a shower, combed my hair, packed my bag with two notebooks, a pen, and my pencil case with my stationery, and then I went to the centre", where she was schooled in Arabic, English and maths.

One of the founding members of the educational tent set up in northern Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, Hasan Hamad, 29, is using his skills as a private English tutor after 10 months went by without him imparting any knowledge.

The tent has been converted into a classroom with the help of donations from people both inside and outside of Gaza.

"The idea started as the new school year approached and upon seeing that there was no prospect of the war ending or the academic year starting under usual circumstances for students in Gaza," Mr Hamad told The National.

But no matter how much effort is made, a tented school cannot compare to a regular one, despite attempts at creating an upbeat atmosphere for pupils and asking parents to dress their children in something that resembles a uniform, he said.

With a limited space, pupils from third to sixth grade will each receive two hours of education a day, by teachers who are university graduates and are living in Jabalia camp or nearby.

"The main subjects we focus on are Arabic, mathematics, English and some parts of science.”

Mr Hamad can accept only 50 students at the moment but is hoping to expand numbers in the near future. He said it was important that the pupils' school work is acknowledged.

“We attempted to contact the Ministry of Education in both the West Bank and Gaza, hoping to gain recognition for the students' studies so their efforts could count towards their education when regular schooling resumes," he said.

“Their response was that they are currently evaluating all educational projects in Gaza and considering how they might collaborate to support students both educationally and developmentally."

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Education in Ramallah, the occupied West Bank, said it had launched a website for Gazan schoolchildren to use online learning.

The project has been helpful for mothers such as Haneen Othman, 36, who is too afraid for her children's safety to take them out of their tent in Al Mawasi, Khan Younis.

"I registered my daughter for the online class. Maya, who is supposed to be in fourth grade now, missed third grade last year," she told The National.

But in the light of war, even online learning is not easy. Internet problems and anxiety caused by the constant fear of death mean Maya finds it difficult to concentrate, her mother says.

"Maya struggles to engage in her studies," Ms Othman said. "She is constantly worried and unable to concentrate."