GAZA, Palestine: In the ruins of Gaza City, the sound of lessons has returned.
Under canvas tents pitched beside shattered buildings, children recite the alphabet, trace Arabic words on worn boards, and line up shoulder to shoulder, smiling as they enter makeshift classrooms. The setting is chaotic and far from ordinary, but after nearly two years of war, it marks a tentative restart of education, reports the BBC.
The temporary school stands on the grounds of the former Lulwa Abdel Wahab al-Qatami School in Tel al-Hawa, in southwest Gaza City.
The building was struck in January 2024 and later became a shelter for displaced families. Today, following an Israel-Hamas ceasefire announced in October, it has once again become a place of learning.
For many pupils, this is their first return to any form of schooling since the war began.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), more than 97 percent of schools in Gaza were damaged or destroyed during the conflict. Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure, including schools, for military purposes, though it has rarely presented verifiable evidence.
Of Gaza’s roughly 658,000 school-aged children, most have missed nearly two full years of formal education. During that time, many experienced displacement, hunger and the loss of family members. Aid agencies warn that the educational disruption risks leaving a lasting mark on an entire generation.
Fourteen-year-old Naeem al-Asmaar once studied at the Lulwa school before it was destroyed. During the war, he lost his mother in an Israeli air strike. After months of displacement, his family returned to their home in Gaza City when the ceasefire took hold.
“I missed being in school a lot,” he said quietly. “Before the war, we had real classrooms. Now it’s tents. We only study four subjects. The education is not the same – but being here matters.”
Rital Alaa Harb, a ninth-grade student who dreams of becoming a dentist, said the war upended her education. “There was no time to study. No schools. I missed my friends so much – and I miss my old school,” she said.
According to BBC, the school is run by Unicef and serves children from the original Lulwa school as well as others displaced by the fighting. Only core subjects – Arabic, English, mathematics and science – are taught, falling short of the full Palestinian curriculum.
Dr Mohammed Saeed Schheiber, the school’s principal and a veteran educator of 24 years, took over management of the site in mid-November.
“We started with determination,” he said, “to compensate students for what they lost.”
The school currently serves about 1,100 students in three daily shifts, with boys and girls attending on alternating days. Just 24 teachers staff the programme.
“Before the war, our students learned in fully equipped schools – science labs, computer labs, internet access,” Dr Schheiber said. “All of that is gone.”
There is no electricity and no internet. Many children are struggling with trauma. More than 100 students at the school lost one or both parents, had their homes destroyed or witnessed killings. Every child, the principal said, has been affected in some way.
A counsellor now runs psychological support sessions, but demand far exceeds capacity. With only six classrooms per shift and a large displacement camp nearby, many children seeking enrolment must be turned away.
For parents, the return to school brings both relief and worry. Huda Bassam al-Dasouki, a mother of five displaced from southern Rimal, said education has become increasingly difficult.
“Supplies are unaffordable,” she said. “A notebook that cost one shekel before the war now costs five. I have five children.”
Some children, she added, are years behind, including time lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. “My son can’t read. He can’t write. He doesn’t know how to copy from the board,” she said.
Unicef says restrictions on aid entering Gaza have worsened the crisis. Jonathan Crickx, a spokesperson for the agency, said basic supplies such as paper, pens and notebooks, as well as psychosocial and recreational kits, are still not being allowed in.
Israel says it is meeting its obligations under the ceasefire and facilitating increased aid deliveries. The United Nations and several aid agencies dispute that claim, accusing Israel of continuing to restrict access to essential supplies.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli strikes in Gaza have continued almost daily, which Israel says are responses to Hamas violations. Still, teachers say children keep coming.
“Education is our foundation,” said Kholoud Habib, a teacher at the school. “We lose homes. We lose money. We lose everything. But knowledge is the one investment we can still give our children.”
