In their tent in central Gaza, Khadija Abu Qados gets her 11-year-old daughter, Jouri, ready for another day at school amid the ongoing Israeli air raids and crippling financial crisis.
asserted
daughter → get → raids
The family has been living in a camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir el-Balah since their neighbourhood, Sheikh Radwan, in northern Gaza, was destroyed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza City last September.
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neighbourhood → live → City
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Like their home, the classrooms for Jouri and her 14-year-old sister, Ritaj, at Elyaa’ School are also tents.
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classrooms → dismantle → School
There are few chairs or desks, so children usually sit on mattresses and carpets when they learn.
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they → be → mattresses
There is no air conditioning or fans, so the heat makes it difficult for children to focus.
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children → be → ?
The children have already spent long periods out of school since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023.
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war → spend → October
Now, Jouri and two of her siblings attend a nearby school run by volunteer teachers near their camp, which charges 30 shekels ($8) a month.
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which → attend → shekels
Even though it is far cheaper than private schools, the modest fee is difficult for the family to afford when food, water and other basic needs come first.
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food → afford → schools
“If I could afford it, I would send them to private school,” 39-year-old Khadija told Al Jazeera.
uncertain
Khadija → afford → Jazeera
Before the war, her daughters attended an UNRWA school in Gaza City, where her children performed well and were praised for their achievements.
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children → attend → achievements
Now, she watches them study in tents.
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them → watch → tents
The conditions may be difficult, but the teachers are helping her children catch up with missed school time.
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children → help → time
“The teaching here is excellent [but] I feel sad for my children because they are studying in these difficult circumstances.
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they → feel → circumstances
This is not an educational environment at all,” she said.
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she → say → ?
“Even the stationery is something I can barely afford because prices have become so high.
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prices → afford → ?
A single notebook costs between four and six shekels.”
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notebook → cost → shekels
The family’s experiences reflect a wider education crisis in Gaza after nearly three years of war.
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experiences → reflect → war
Around 700,000 children aged between four and 17 had missed formal, face-to-face schooling for almost three consecutive school years during Israel’s war on Gaza, UNICEF said in May.
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UNICEF → age → May
Just two percent of all school buildings are undamaged and 93 percent of them require major repairs or complete reconstruction.
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percent → require → reconstruction
About 420,000 children – three in five – had no access to face-to-face learning.
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children → have → learning
Israeli air raids are a constant threat, with at least 300 children killed since last October’s “ceasefire”.
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children → kill → ceasefire
Last week, eight-year-old Wafaa Akila and her father were killed when their car was struck on the way back home from school in western Gaza.
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car → kill → Gaza
With the formal education system in ruins, parents and teachers have stepped in, opening temporary learning spaces in tents and volunteer initiatives.
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parents → step → tents
Noha Khadra, who spent 10 years as a teacher, opened the Elyaa’ School in January, operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.
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who → spend → Education
Pupils learn in tents with a few desks and not enough chairs, while other essentials such as blackboards are in poor condition.
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essentials → learn → condition
More than 1,100 students have enrolled in the ‘field school, but there are only 40 volunteer teachers and administrative staff.
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students → enrol → school
Despite the obstacles, she said there is high demand for places in the school, but a lack of resources and staff has meant a gruelling initial nine months for the principal.
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lack → say → principal
The children were sitting on mattresses.
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children → sit → mattresses
Many students come to us without stationery… so we buy it for them ourselves as much as we can,” she told Al Jazeera.
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she → come → Jazeera
This project has drained my energy, and I cannot provide more than what I am already doing.”
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I → drain → what
The school provides children with a place away from the everyday pressures of displacement and also access to essentials for survival, such as water.
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school → provide → water
The situation in private schools is better than the voluntary centres, but the high costs make them affordable only to a minority of parents in Gaza.
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them → make → Gaza
Zahra Saleh, 25, enrolled her six-year-old son, Ibrahim, in first grade and her five-year-old son, Karam, in kindergarten at the Abdul Aziz Private School in the west of Gaza City.
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Saleh → enrol → City
After finding most private schools too expensive, she finally found one she could afford.
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she → find → one
Zahra’s husband, like many men in Gaza, is unemployed, so paying the 400 shekels ($131) monthly school fees is difficult.
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paying → pay → shekels
But she did not want Ibrahim, who was beginning his first year of formal schooling, to lose any more education.
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who → want → education
She also wanted her children to have a regular routine, with classes from 7am to noon.
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children → want → noon
Learning subjects such as Arabic, English and Mathematics as they would have done before the war, was also her hope.
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they → learn → war
“I’m in a very difficult financial situation.
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I → ’m → situation
I had to work at the school so I could reduce the cost of the fees for my children,” Zahra told Al Jazeera.
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Zahra → have → Jazeera
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
