Gaza students deprived of education – School year opens in the West Bank

Governorates - Ma'an - The academic year for this year 2024-2025 began in the governorates of the West Bank, on Monday morning, while more than 630 thousand students have been deprived of their school seats in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, including more than 58 thousand children who were deprived of the joy of entering the first grade at school The new school year began amidst the ongoing genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip and ongoing occupation violations in the West Bank amidst the closure of the areas. This year is unusually different from previous years; the occupation's aggression on Gaza resulted in the targeting of more than 25,000 children, between martyrs and wounded; including more than 10,000 of our school students, amid the destruction of 90% of the 307 government school buildings. This situation in the Strip is no different from the reality of education in Jerusalem, which is still under the pressure of the policies of Israelization and Judaization, and the same applies to the so-called (C) areas, and even to the city centers and camps that have become the scene of destructive operations launched by the occupation. What happened in Jenin and Tulkarm and their camps is the closest example to describing these violations. The Ministry of Education indicated that 90% of school buildings in all governorates of the Strip were damaged, while 39 thousand students were prevented from taking the high school exam for the past year. In the West Bank governorates, the total number of students reached 806,361 male and female students, including 616,757 students enrolled in government schools, 45,500 students in UNRWA schools, and 144,104 students in private schools. The number of schools in the West Bank is 2,459, including 1,937 government schools, 96 UNRWA schools, and 426 private schools. The total number of teachers in schools is approximately 51,500, including 39,500 in government schools, 1,947 in UNRWA schools, and 10,000 in private schools. Source: Maan News Agency