Simon Uttley
The expression “suffer the little children to come unto me” (Matthew 19:14; Mark 10:14) though, of course, intended to mean ‘allow them to come to me’, has often carried a dual meaning because of its different connotation in modern English. Whether as a parent, an educator or, in fact, anyone with a heart, the very last thing we would countenance is allowing a child to suffer, yet this remains a reality in many parts of the globe facing war and extreme poverty. As educators here in the UK we quite rightly lament the state of some, if not many of our school buildings. A safe, attractive school environment not only enhances learning, but also signals to the dignity of every member of the school community – children, staff and visitors. However, at this time of the year, when the nativity story encourages to ‘look East’, with an eye to the global ‘good’, we cannot but be moved by the challenge facing our colleagues in Gaza as they literally pick up the pieces of their decimated school infrastructure.
Following the implementation of the October 2025 ceasefire in Gaza, the international community has confronted an unprecedented educational catastrophe. The scale of destruction has been described by academics as ‘scholasticide’—the systematic destruction of educational infrastructure—with approximately 97% of schools damaged or destroyed (UNICEF, 2025). The fragile ceasefire, which came into effect on 10 October 2025 as part of the US twenty-point peace plan (Council on Foreign Relations, 2025), has opened a critical window for rebuilding Gaza’s decimated education system.
This brief paper examines the current state of educational reconstruction, the challenges facing educators and students, and the international response to what the United Nations has called a generational crisis.
The scale of educational destruction
The conflict that began on 7 October 2023 resulted in catastrophic damage to Gaza’s educational infrastructure. According to the Education Cluster’s assessment, 95% of all educational institutions in Gaza sustained some level of damage, with 88% requiring major reconstruction or complete rebuilding (European Training Foundation, 2025). The physical damage to the education sector alone reached approximately $870 million by early 2025, representing more than eight times Gaza’s pre-war education budget (European Training Foundation, 2025). This figure, however, does not account for the comprehensive long-term reconstruction needs or the devastating human cost.
Every university in Gaza was destroyed during the conflict. This systematic destruction extended beyond physical infrastructure to include the killing of over 400 teachers and educational staff (United Nations, 2025), creating a profound crisis in human capital that will affect educational quality for years to come.
The human mpact: A generation’s lost education
More than 658,000 school-aged children in Gaza have had virtually no access to formal education for over two years (UNICEF, 2025). Students have already lost nearly three years of schooling over the past five years due to both COVID-19 and prolonged conflict, resulting in a projected minimum 30% reduction in future earnings, compounded by the effects of trauma and minimal learning opportunities (Middle East Centre, 2025). The psychological toll is equally severe: UNICEF estimates that over 64,000 children have been killed or injured during the conflict, with more than 80% of surviving children showing symptoms of severe trauma (Al Jazeera, 2025).
The experiences of individual students illustrate the broader crisis. Eleven-year-old Layan Haji walks half an hour through devastated streets filled with rubble to reach her makeshift classroom in a battered building where tents serve as classrooms. Despite wearing torn clothing and facing immense hardship, she maintains her dream of becoming a doctor (Free Malaysia Today, 2025). Sixteen-year-old Said Sheldan expressed joy at returning to school but noted the stark reality: ‘I don’t have books, notebooks, pens or a bag. There are no chairs, electricity or water—not even streets’ (Free Malaysia Today, 2025).
A Christmas story?
As the Headteacher of a Catholic school, our community is proud to support the charity Aid to the Church in Need. The Christian community in Gaza, though comprising 1% of the population, is the world’s oldest Christian community and is intrinsically linked to the Christmas story we are now, in our various ways, celebrating. It has also faced the nightmarish reality of schools destroyed. The Holy Family school, for instance, has been hit multiple times with the July 2024 bombing, causing serious destruction, civilian casualties, and hundreds of displaced people were sheltering in the building. The Rosary Sisters’ school in the Tal Al Hawa neighbourhood, serving 1250 Christian and Muslim students, was destroyed by Israeli bombing in November 2023. These schools may represent a small percentage, but their longstanding record of educating children from all faiths further fissures the region’s cultural life, and the work of organisations such as Aid to the Church in Need and others remains highly significant.
Current educational provision: makeshift solutions
Despite the fragile ceasefire, educational provision remains severely limited and precarious. UNICEF has established 143 temporary learning spaces accommodating approximately 109,310 children (54% girls) for non-formal education (UNICEF, 2025). The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which historically catered to half of Gaza’s children, has reopened schools in areas not under Israeli military control, providing education for approximately 40,000 students through contracted teachers (Al Jazeera, 2025). An additional 300,000 students access online learning via WhatsApp, though this requires devices and internet access—luxuries in present-day Gaza (CNN, 2025).
These temporary solutions face enormous challenges. Many UNRWA schools serve dual purposes, functioning as classrooms during the day and displacement shelters at night. Um Mahmoud, a displaced Palestinian, explained: ‘We vacate the classrooms to give the children a chance to learn because education is vital. We’re prioritising learning and hope that conditions will improve, allowing for better quality of education’ (Al Jazeera, 2025).
Critical resource shortages
The shortage of educational supplies remains a critical obstacle. Despite the ceasefire, educational materials have been blocked from entering Gaza because they are not classified as ‘lifesaving humanitarian aid’ (UNICEF, 2025). UNICEF has stationery, backpacks for children, and resources for teachers waiting at borders, but this requires permission for entry. The infrastructure challenges are compounded by the need to clear unexploded ordinance and chemical hazards before learning centres can be established. An estimated 26 million tonnes of rubble must be cleared before reconstruction can begin (European Training Foundation, 2025). In Gaza City, UNICEF colleagues described becoming increasingly hopeless as they realised the mammoth scale of reconstruction needed, with potential locations for learning centres reduced to impassable roads and rubble (UNICEF, 2025).
Higher education: resilience amidst ruins
Gaza’s universities have demonstrated remarkable resilience despite total physical destruction. Throughout the conflict, professors and scholars continued teaching and research in makeshift shelters, tents, and public squares, sustaining international partnerships and providing purpose to students (Al Jazeera, 2025). Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi, a 19-year-old English literature student at the Islamic University of Gaza, described studying as ‘an escape’ amid the conflict—’a small space of hope and achievement’ (The Intercept, 2025).
The Islamic University of Gaza has developed a reconstruction plan requiring approximately US$15 million for rebuilding campuses, purchasing equipment and furniture, and other student resources. However, as the director of the engineering office noted, there is ‘no funding yet’ for most of the necessary work (The Intercept, 2025). The university waived tuition fees during the first year of the conflict to enable students to continue learning, but this decision meant the institution missed out on its already limited revenue. The human toll was devastating: 56 academic and administrative employees were killed, approximately 1,500 employees did not receive salaries, and 17,000 students dropped out (The Intercept, 2025).
The international response and reconstruction framework
The Gaza Education Cluster Response Plan
In January 2024, UNICEF and Save the Children Foundation created the Gaza Education Cluster Response Plan, comprising three phases: current activity, early recovery, and reconstruction (Middle East Centre, 2025). The first phase focuses on child and youth wellbeing through informal and recreational education spaces. The second phase addresses immediate needs through education-specific funding mechanisms to support low-cost temporary solutions such as digital learning strategies to fill gaps in literacy and numeracy. The third phase, aligned with the ceasefire deal’s reconstruction plans, envisions a three-to-five-year programme to restructure Gaza’s education system and infrastructure.
Broader reconstruction estimates
The World Bank, United Nations, and European Union’s Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment estimated total recovery and reconstruction needs at over US$67 billion by mid-2025 (World Bank, 2025). Housing accounts for the largest sector requiring funding at US$15.2 billion, whilst economic losses from reduced productivity, foregone revenues, and operating costs are estimated at US$19 billion, with health, education, and commerce bearing the biggest toll (World Bank, 2025). Gaza’s economy contracted by 83% in 2024, reducing its contribution to the Palestinian economy from 17% to 3% despite being home to 40% of the population (World Bank, 2025).
The World Bank has established a Financial Intermediary Fund for Gaza Reconstruction and Development to facilitate international donor contributions (World Bank, 2025). However, reconstruction efforts face significant political and security obstacles, with neither Israel nor Hamas showing genuine commitment to the governance arrangements required for comprehensive rebuilding (Foreign Policy, 2025).
Challenges and obstacles to educational reconstruction
Access and aid restrictions
The fragility of the ceasefire continues to impede reconstruction efforts. Israeli military operations continue despite the ceasefire agreement, with strikes into Gaza occurring on a near-daily basis and a continued partial blockade on humanitarian aid (The Intercept, 2025). Hundreds of large tents intended for temporary learning spaces have been blocked from entering Gaza, even during the ceasefire period (Thomson Reuters Foundation, 2025). Israel’s longstanding policy restricting building materials into Gaza, originally implemented as a security measure, has devastated Gaza’s construction industry whilst failing to prevent militant tunnel construction. There is a belief that this policy must be reconsidered to enable educational reconstruction (Foreign Policy, 2025). Basic utilities such as water, electricity, and telecommunications must be restored before schools can be rebuilt and reopened, and catastrophic housing damage exceeding US$13 billion has rendered hundreds of thousands of students homeless (European Training Foundation, 2025).
Displacement and safety concerns
More than 1.7 million people remain displaced, with almost 80% of buildings damaged or destroyed (UN News, 2025). Schools that still exist primarily serve as shelters for displaced families, creating a complex challenge: new shelters must be built to transition displaced individuals so that buildings can be restored to their original educational purposes (Middle East Centre, 2025). The environment around many schools remains hazardous, with unexploded ordinance and debris posing ongoing risks to children and families.
Safety concerns extend beyond physical hazards. In October 2025, reportedly 46 children were killed over a 24-hour period in Israeli air strikes despite the ceasefire (UNICEF, 2025). Many parents, like 11-year-old Masa’s father, no longer allow their children the independence they once had, walking them to school twice daily through apocalyptic landscapes of destroyed buildings and rubble due to fears of unexploded ordinance and unexpected strikes (CNN, 2025).
Educational quality and teacher capacity
The killing of over 400 teachers and educational staff represents a devastating loss of human capital that directly affects educational quality (United Nations, 2025). Academic and policy analyst Inam al-Maghari, a student who resumed lessons, expressed the depth of educational disruption: ‘I used to study before, but we have been away from school for two years. I didn’t complete my second and third grades, and now I’m in fourth grade, but I feel like I know nothing’ (Al Jazeera, 2025). This sentiment reflects the experiences of hundreds of thousands of children who face significant learning gaps.
The prolonged disruption threatens students’ transition to higher education or vocational training. Approximately 32,000 students have registered to take their final secondary school examinations, but there is a severe lack of tablets, internet access, and charging stations to facilitate the process (Thomson Reuters Foundation, 2025). A study by academics and UNRWA found that the conflict could set children’s education back by up to five years, with lost education affecting an entire generation for the rest of their lives (Thomson Reuters Foundation, 2025).
The path forward: principles for sustainable reconstruction
Palestinian leadership and participation
Scholars working alongside Palestinian academics and students emphasise that reconstruction must be led by Palestinians themselves (Al Jazeera, 2025). Current international plans for governance and reconstruction of Gaza have been criticised for excluding Palestinians most affected by the conflict and prioritising Israeli security over Palestinian wellbeing and self-determination. Academics argue that such exclusion leads to dependency, frustration, and despair, whereas Palestinian-led reconstruction that begins with education offers the best path to sustainable recovery.
Professor Sulaiman, a specialist in educational foundations and administration, stressed that ‘education played a vital role in supporting the psychological and social endurance of students, faculty, and families alike’ during the conflict. He emphasised that when Gaza rebuilds, the university will rise ‘architecturally and become a leading institution’ with curricula that evolve ‘to meet contemporary demands and develop students capable of thriving in modern life’ (The Intercept, 2025).
International solidarity and partnership
Initiatives such as those of Friends of Palestinian Universities, the University of Glasgow, Qatar Foundation’s Education Above All, and other international partnerships demonstrate what sustained cooperation can achieve (Al Jazeera, 2025). Qatar’s Education Above All Foundation has launched the ‘Rebuilding Hope for Gaza’ programme aimed at supporting more than 100,000 students (Free Malaysia Today, 2025). The world’s universities must listen, collaborate, and commit for the long term through partnerships with Gaza’s institutions, sharing expertise, supporting research, and helping reconstruct intellectual infrastructure. Fellowships, joint projects, remote teaching, and open digital resources represent small steps that can make a vast difference.
UNICEF has outlined critical commitments required to accelerate recovery: the simultaneous opening of all crossings into Gaza with improved clearance procedures, allowing relief to move through all feasible supply routes including Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank, and permitting the urgent entry of aid supplies based on assessed needs, including items previously denied or restricted (UNICEF, 2025). Education kits and mental health and psychosocial support materials have been blocked for over a year and must enter immediately.
Reimagining education for the future
The scale of destruction, whilst devastating, presents an opportunity to reimagine Gaza’s educational infrastructure. Reconstruction must go beyond merely restoring what was lost to create a modern, sustainable educational system. UNICEF aims to rebuild inclusive schools that combine multiple services under one roof—from safe drinking water to integrated mental health and psychosocial support and child protection services to promote emotional recovery and safety for every child (UNICEF, 2025).
Policymakers must ensure that systemic inequalities hindering Gaza’s educational recovery are not perpetuated. True reconstruction must challenge preconceived notions of educational structures and curricula, instead fostering an education system that prioritises local autonomy and cultural preservation over international dependency (Middle East Centre, 2025). Education policies in Gaza are not merely humanitarian imperatives but investments in peace, stability, and the future of an entire generation.
Education as the foundation of peace
The reconstruction of Gaza’s education system represents far more than rebuilding physical structures. It is about restoring hope, dignity, and opportunity to a generation of children who have endured unimaginable suffering. As UN Deputy Special Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov stated, ‘Today we meet at a moment of renewed hope. Whilst progress on the ground is fragile and deep uncertainty persists, we must seize the opportunity before us to chart a better future for Palestinians, Israelis, and the wider region’ (UN News, 2025).
The challenges remain immense: 97% of schools damaged or destroyed, over 658,000 children without access to formal education, $870 million in physical damage to educational infrastructure, and a generation facing reduced future earnings and profound psychological trauma. Yet the resilience demonstrated by Palestinian educators, students, and families offers genuine cause for hope. From university professors teaching in tents to young children walking through rubble to reach makeshift classrooms, the commitment to education persists.
The international community must respond with sustained commitment, adequate funding, and respect for Palestinian leadership in reconstruction efforts. Education reconstruction must begin immediately, not wait for comprehensive political settlement. The fragile ceasefire provides a critical window that must not be wasted. As scholars have argued, reconstruction must begin in the classroom, with young people who have survived the unthinkable and still dare to dream. Without them—without Palestinian educators and students at the centre—no rebuilding effort can endure.
The cost of failure is unimaginable. Success requires unwavering commitment from all stakeholders to move from crisis management to conflict resolution, guided by respect for Palestinian rights, dignity, and self-determination. Education is not merely a humanitarian concern but the foundation upon which lasting peace and prosperity must be built. The decisions made now will determine whether this moment breaks the region’s long cycle of violence or becomes yet another false dawn.
References
Aid to the Church in Need www.acnuk.org
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Al Jazeera. (2025, November 7). Gaza’s UNRWA schools are classrooms by day, displacement shelters at night. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/7/gazas-unrwa-schools-are-classrooms-by-day-displacement-shelters-at-night
Al-Wawi, T. A. (2025, November 7). Gaza’s students kept studying amid the rubble. Now universities hope to rebuild. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2025/11/07/gaza-universities-scholasticide-israel-palestine/
Claude.ai as aid to searching and sifting.
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