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UNRWA Schools on the Frontline: Going back to school in Gaza

01 September 2021

After over a year of disrupted learning and summer break, UNRWA opened its 183 schools in Gaza. More than 290,000 Palestine refugee students returned to school with an additional 31,000 newly registered students joining them!

This year schools are opening after a summer of hostilities that left 256 Palestinians dead, including 66 children. Some 89 UNRWA schools were also impacted. UNRWA has worked rapidly to ensure that the impacted schools were repaired and returned to full working order ahead of the 2021-2022 school year. Despite its best efforts and a testament to the level of destruction left, two facilities are still in the repairs process and have not been able to open their gates for the new school year.

“In order to facilitate a smooth return to school for our students and integrate them back into the educational process after a long break, UNRWA hired 600 short-term teachers to support our more than 9,000 permanent teachers. These educators will be working with our younger students between grades 2-4. They will be implementing a special guide developed by our education specialists,” said Farid Abu Athra, UNRWA Chief Field Education Programme in Gaza. © 2021 UNRWA photo by Mohammed Hinnawi"On the first day of the new school year, we celebrated and welcomed our students back to school after a long period of disrupted learning. We developed a clear and comprehensive teaching plan with the school administration based on the supplementary materials provided by the UNRWA Education Programme for students from grades 2-4,” said Maysara Abu Shuaib, a teacher at the UNRWA Remal Elementary Co-educational School B. © 2021 UNRWA photo by Mohammed Hinnawi“Our focus now is on developing students’ basic skills such as writing, reading and mathematics and on raising their awareness on COVID-19 protective measures. We are also in contact with parents via WhatsApp. This helps us ensure that they will teach the students correctly in case there is another disruption,” said Maysara. © 2021 UNRWA photo by Mohammed Hinnawi“I also meet my students on Zoom to answer their questions. Sometimes we don’t have enough time during class because our school operates on a three-shift system,” said Maysara. Two schools have been unable to reopen and their students have been shifted to the other schools while repairs are being made. This means increased double and sometimes triple shifts for temporary host schools. © 2021 UNRWA photo by Mohammed Hinnawi“During the last conflict, my father told me that my school was affected by the airstrikes. I felt so sad and was worried about my beautiful desk and schoolyard. Then my father told me that my school was going to be repaired and would be even more beautiful than it was before! He was right! I’m very happy that my friends and I have come back to a safe school and will finally be able to receive a good education,” Aya continued. © 2021 UNRWA photo by Mohammed HinnawiThe Gaza Field Infrastructure and Camp Improvement Programme reports the cost of damages to UNRWA schools to be an estimated US$ 1,250,000. Some 89 schools suffered damage during hostilities in May. © 2021 UNRWA photo by Mohammed HinnawiThe debris found in UNRWA schools has been removed by school attendants and contractors hired to complete maintenance of affected school compounds. They were granted access to the impacted schools after explosive remnants experts from the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) cleared the inspected premises. © 2021 UNRWA photo by Mohammed Hinnawi

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