Children in Gaza have resumed classes in makeshift tents and the ruins of bombed-out schools, but ongoing trauma, aid shortages, and the looming threat of renewed conflict jeopardize their education.
At least 14,500 children were killed in Israel's genocidal war and thousands wounded, according to UNICEF. More than 400 teachers were also killed, the U.N. says, and now most of Gaza's children need mental health support for trauma, aid agencies say.
Children are not necessarily just picking up from where they left off when the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, "because of all the learning loss and the deep psychological impact of the war," said Kate McLennan, Middle East regional advisor on education at rights group War Child.
"There is also trauma attached to schools, which are generally understood as places of learning and safety and where you go to play with your friends (but have) been used as shelters," she said.
"So, there is that alternative use of a school which has a psychological impact on children."
A fragile truce was declared between Palestinian resistance group Hamas and Israel in January and as of March 3, more than 150,000 students had enrolled in 165 government schools, with over 7,000 teachers mobilized, the U.N. said, citing the Education Ministry in Gaza.
But the challenges are huge.
More than 658,000 school-aged children do not have access to formal education and almost 95% of school buildings have been damaged by Israeli strikes and fighting with 88% of them needing major reconstruction, said a report by the Occupied Palestinian Territory Education Cluster, which includes U.N. agencies and other international aid groups.
Desks and chairs have been pulverized and teaching materials destroyed while reconstruction has been delayed by aid blockades by Israel.
The blockades have impeded efforts to establish more learning spaces and rebuild damaged schools, said Alun McDonald, head of media and external relations at Islamic Relief, a British-based charity.
"Hundreds of large tents that were meant to be used for temporary learning spaces have been blocked from entering (Gaza), even during the cease-fire period," McDonald said.
The head of the Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) has warned there could be another hunger crisis if the blockades continue. Israel says the blockades are designed to pressure Hamas in cease-fire talks.
"Children can't learn when they are being starved and bombed," McDonald said. "Getting children back into school is an urgent priority, but the challenges are absolutely massive."
The war was triggered by the Hamas incursion on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering Israel's genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
The incursion caused 1,200 deaths and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
This month Israel stopped deliveries of food, medicine and fuel into Gaza and cut electricity supply in a bid to pressure Hamas. Aid agencies said the power cut could threaten clean water supplies.
Around 32,000 students have registered to take their final high school exams, according to the U.N., but there is a lack of tablets, internet access and charging stations to facilitate the process.
There is also a shortage of large tents and recreational and psycho-social kits to help students learn because of restrictions on aid, including the blocking of 10 pre-approved trucks carrying basic education supplies in February, U.N. agencies said.
But it is not just the physical damage and shortages that are holding children back.
"One of the things that we know from our work in all conflict and post-conflict and development contexts is that the psychological trauma and the psychosocial support needs of children are so high that it's related to brain development as well," said McLennan.
"The academic content is not going to stick if the conditions of the brain are not ready to ... deal with that," she said.
A study by academics and UNRWA last year said the war could set the education of children in Gaza back by up to five years.
"The lost education will affect an entire generation of children in Gaza for the rest of their lives," McDonald said.
