Rebuilding Gaza’s Education System Could Take Up to Seven Years, UNRWA Warns

Rebuilding Gaza’s Education System Could Take Up to Seven Years, UNRWA Warns
———————————-
Rebuilding Gaza’s education system could take up to seven years, according to research estimates cited by Julia Dicum, UNRWA’s education officer, following years of school disruptions and military operations that have deprived children of normal schooling.

Dicum said that when the school year began in September, she encountered children who should have been in third grade but were attending school for the first time. Some pupils in the final years of primary education have received no more than one full academic year of in-person schooling, following disruptions caused by COVID-19 and three years of conflict.

She warned that learning losses have been compounded by psychological trauma and the fear of living under continued bombardment and uncertainty, making the recovery of education in Gaza an even greater challenge.