“It was great to see how happy children are to return to school. In Gaza, UNRWA schools–for many children–have become one of the very few places where children can be just that, children. It’s a place where they learn, thrive, play, make friends and do outdoor activities.”
— Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza
Education is central to Gazan culture, where the educational landscape includes formal schooling, Islamic institutions, and camps that focus on extracurriculars as foreign language learning, chess, and karate. From preschool to doctoral studies, learning and pursuing knowledge are revered by Gazans.
In Gaza, formal schooling begins with pre-K, known locally as “bustan.” Pre-K students attend school four days per week from 8 AM to 12 PM before transitioning to kindergarten or “rawdah.” Elementary school consists of grades 1–4, middle school covers grades 5–9, and high school encompasses grades 10–12.1 Most public schools in Gaza operate on two shifts (with some even operating on three shifts): a morning “sabahi” shift from ~7 AM to 11–12 AM and an afternoon shift “masa’i” from 11–12 PM to 2–4:30 PM, with classes lasting 3.5–5 hours per day, six days per week.2 Private schools typically have one shift per day five days per week. These shifts last from 7 AM to 2 PM.
Exceptions barred, each academic year consists of two semesters, with two sets of monthly exams in addition to midterm and final exams. High academic performance is highly esteemed, motivating students of all ages to strive for excellence. It is common that young students aspire to achieve full marks, encouraged by society and families alike. Success stories of disadvantaged students making it to the top are common and spread as people speak of the students with admiration and praise. Many students look up to such individuals for inspiration, motivation, and perhaps even some healthy competition.
In Gaza, the 10th grade marks a crucial point in every student’s academic career as it is when students declare their high school concentration. Students mostly choose between the scientific route, which focuses on sciences and mathematics, and the literary route, which focuses on languages and social studies, although other routes exist. They then pursue their concentration for the final two years of high school (11th and 12th grade).3 This decision is revisable at the start of the senior year, known as “tawjeehi.” Tawjeehi is a demanding period, marked by intensive tutoring, weekly quizzes, and preparations for the year-end exams, which determine university or college majors.
During the tawjeehi exam period, street vendors and salesmen maintain silence to allow students to focus. The tawjeehi test season is a very significant time period culturally, with nearly everyone speaking about and knowing how each test went. No matter where one goes, they will hear people spreading news of the exams, such as, “The English test was so difficult” or “Chemistry was easy.” Gazans will hear of the tests from family members and family members of those in tawjeehi. For those who are not close to anyone in tawjeehi (which is odd and uncommon as families in Gaza are quite large, whether one’s own or those of their friends), everyone can keep up to date on the news by watching street interviews of students who had just completed their tests.
Tawjeehi exam scores are released two months after the exams at 8 AM. This is considered one of the most exciting and anticipated times of the year alongside the two religious celebrations of Eid. Students’ tawjeehi concentrations and marks combine to determine which majors, and therefore careers, they can pursue. For instance, students who pursued the literary route may not qualify for certain fields like medicine, which require specific prerequisites completed in the scientific track. Furthermore, a student’s combined average score in tawjeehi is also used to indicate what majors students may study in university. For example, the cut off for Medicine is generally around 95 (it changes nearly every year and differs based on gender), Engineering is 80, and Arabic is 65.4
University culture in Gaza resembles that of any other country, offering students a period of freedom and choices. Students can finally make their own schedules and choose their own classes and teachers and no longer have to cram into hot overcrowded classes. They usually also no longer need to walk to and from school every day.
Low unemployment rates drive many Gazans to pursue multiple degrees, including master’s and doctorate degrees, as education is seen as a path to freedom and opportunity in Gaza. While the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) is the most popular and well-known university in the Strip, there are numerous other universities and colleges in the region. Of them all, Al-Azhar University is the most comparable to IUG as it is also large and a full-fledged university with numerous postgraduate programs.
Despite challenges, Gaza boasts extremely high literacy rates with gender parity in education, which essentially means that educational opportunities and outcomes among boys and girls and men and women are not uneven. According to a 2003 survey, the youth (ages 15–24) literacy rate was 98.2%.5 Overall, the educational landscape in Gaza is notable. Just as education serves as a beacon of hope and empowerment for Gazans, the fact that Gazans excitedly and passionately pursue knowledge should serve as an inspiration to the world. In the Western world particularly, students should happily say that they “can” study rather than sulk that they “have to”–education is power and the ability to study is a right not granted to all others.
References
- Hussein, A., Wong, S., & Bright, A. (2022, September 15). The Palestinian K-12 education system: History, structure, challenges, and opportunities. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://oxfordre.com/education/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-1662 ↩︎
- BBC. (n.d.). حرب غزة: ما هي مدارس الأونروا وماذا حدث لها منذ بداية الحرب؟. BBC News عربي. https://www.bbc.com/arabic/articles/c878yp1e07eo ↩︎
- Hussein, A., Wong, S., & Bright, A. (2022, September 15). The Palestinian K-12 education system: History, structure, challenges, and opportunities. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://oxfordre.com/education/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-166 ↩︎
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- United Nations. (n.d.). The role and performance of Palestinian ngos in Health, Education and Agriculture – World Bank report – question of Palestine. United Nations. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-196416/ ↩︎