Gaza students sit exams for first time since war began in October 2023

Some 1,500 students are scheduled to beryllium their end-of-school exams, contempt Israel’s genocidal war.

Hundreds of Palestinian students successful Gaza are taking a important end-of-secondary-school exam organised by the besieged enclave’s Ministry of Education successful the anticipation of entering assemblage studies.

Earlier this month, the ministry announced Saturday’s exam, which volition beryllium the archetypal since Israel began its genocidal warfare connected Gaza aft the Hamas-led onslaught successful confederate Israel successful October 2023.

The ministry confirmed that astir 1,500 students are registered to instrumentality the exam, which volition beryllium conducted electronically utilizing specialised software, adding that each indispensable method preparations person been carried retired to guarantee creaseless administration.

Some students are sitting the online exam astatine home, portion others are taking it astatine venues depending connected the portion they are in, with information considerations successful mind, fixed the regular Israeli bombardment.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, stressed that for Palestinian students, the exam is simply a captious gateway to higher education, scholarships and a aboriginal beyond the Israeli blockade.

He said: “Even successful a warzone, with nary classrooms, nary books and hardly immoderate internet, Gaza’s students are showing up, logging successful and sitting their last exam, refusing to fto warfare erase their future.”

After the warfare started, the acquisition of galore students successful Gaza has been enactment connected hold, and the results of Saturday’s exam volition let them to proceed their studies astatine university.

Many should person been astatine assemblage by now, but remained astatine the precocious schoolhouse level owed to the war, arsenic Israeli attacks person devastated Gaza’s acquisition system, on with the remainder of the territory’s civilian infrastructure.

In response, Gaza’s Education Ministry has launched an online level – the archetypal of its benignant successful Gaza – to alteration precocious schoolhouse seniors to instrumentality their last exam.

“Students person downloaded the app to instrumentality their exam, but they look galore challenges,” Morad al-Agha, the exams manager of the Central Gaza Governorate, told Al Jazeera.

“We person raised these concerns with the ministry to marque definite they’re resolved, truthful students tin beryllium for their exams without disruption.”

‘It is truthful difficult’

Students log successful from cafes, tents and shelters – wherever they tin find a charged instrumentality and a moving net connection.

Before the last exam, they person completed a mock test, designed not lone to trial their cognition but besides the system’s stability.

However, students archer Al Jazeera that going integer successful Gaza has not been easy.

“We are taking exams online, but it is truthful difficult,” pupil Doha Khatab said. “The net is weak, galore of america bash not person devices and determination is nary harmless abstraction to instrumentality the test. We besides mislaid our books successful the bombardment.”

To enactment them, a fewer teachers person reopened damaged classrooms and are offering in-person guidance.

“It is the archetypal clip the ministry has done this online and students are confused, truthful we’re trying to usher them measurement by step,” teacher Enam Abu Slisa told Al Jazeera.

The warfare successful Gaza and the demolition of 95 percent of acquisition infrastructure person near much than 660,000 children retired of schoolhouse – astir each of Gaza’s school-aged population, according to the United Nations.

Many erstwhile UN-run schools are present being utilized arsenic shelters for displaced radical and besides look relentless, deadly Israeli attacks.

A study to the UN Human Rights Council recovered that Israeli forces systematically destroyed acquisition infrastructure successful Gaza. The study described these actions arsenic imaginable warfare crimes.