In the early hours of the morning, English-language teacher Deena Allouh has breakfast in her partly destroyed home on Al Nasser Street, in western Gaza City. She then sets off on an hour-long walk to Al Awael Private School, where she teaches around 250 students.
For the past five years, she has worked in different educational institutions across Gaza, driven by a dream of helping a new generation learn English and build a better future.
But since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, her working life and her students’ education have been transformed.
Deena, who graduated with distinction in English-language education, said Israel's war had dramatically disrupted Gaza’s education system, leaving students struggling not only with interrupted schooling but also with the psychological consequences of living through the war.
"Gaza’s students are losing their ability to learn after losing family members, being displaced multiple times from one place to another, experiencing the horror of bombardments, and finding no suitable schools or places to study," Deena told The New Arab.
Even displaced families who try to continue their children’s education often struggle to find books and stationery. Others cannot access the internet to follow online lessons, leaving children with few opportunities to keep up with their studies.
For Deena, the consequences are becoming increasingly visible in the classroom. Three years of disrupted education in Gaza have created significant gaps in students’ knowledge and their ability to understand lessons, particularly among primary school children, whose early learning provides the foundation for everything that follows.
"They are supposed to learn the basics to build on them in the coming years," she explained. "Many students who have grown up during the war are not familiar with the educational process and do not understand what school, a teacher or a lesson means. Many students are unable to read the letters of the English alphabet, although three years ago, children of the same age were able to construct sentences."
For three years, regular attendance has depended on the security situation facing each teacher and student, including nearby bombardments, displacement, and the sudden loss or injury of family members.
Deena continued teaching during the war, except when Israeli ground incursions took place in the area surrounding her home or her school.
The classroom has also become a space where the psychological effects of the ongoing genocide are difficult to separate from the learning process.
"Most of my students lost some of their siblings, parents, relatives or classmates. I recognise the effects of their trauma in their social withdrawal, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and changes in behaviour and academic performance," Deena said.
She tries to give students privacy while encouraging them to interact with their classmates. She also notices the small details that remain important to children despite everything they have endured, such as their colourful clothes, beautiful hair, or organised handwriting.
"I do my best to support my students as they cope with their trauma, while my fellow teachers and I also need support because we are going through the same experiences," she said.
For Deena, the most difficult period came during the famine in Gaza in 2025, when severe restrictions on food supplies left families struggling to secure enough to eat.
For teachers, the struggle to maintain classes continued even as their own bodies weakened from hunger.
"I was struggling to work for eight hours with barely a biscuit and water. My body and mind had no energy to teach, but I kept going," she said.
"Many times, my vision would become blurry, but I would not show it or tell others. Sometimes I would write something incorrectly on the board and have to correct myself later. I also made mistakes while correcting students’ work because I could not concentrate. I hope we will not starve again."
The experience exposed the difficult reality facing teachers who were expected to maintain a sense of normality for children while struggling to meet their own basic needs.
"What do you expect from a hungry teacher teaching hungry students, when all they can think about is getting a loaf of bread to eat?" she asked.
Despite these conditions and the ongoing bombing in Gaza, Deena has continued trying to address the educational gaps her students have accumulated.
She now groups students by learning level, repeats lessons when necessary, and uses additional classes and her free time to revisit material they have missed or forgotten.
Her efforts reflect a wider struggle among Gaza’s teachers to keep education going despite the destruction of schools, the loss of colleagues and the daily challenges facing their students.
The cost of learning
At Al Awael Private School, principal Sahar Hosni explained that teachers' and school administrators' responsibilities had expanded far beyond delivering lessons over the past three years.
"We must balance students' educational needs against the loss of years of schooling and the ongoing threat to the lives of children and staff," she told The New Arab.
"The safety of students and teachers is our first priority, while we are losing generations of students who are growing up deprived of their right to education."
Despite the danger, families continued seeking opportunities for their children to learn, even when Israeli tanks were only a few kilometres from the school.
The school suspended classes for several months before reopening to teach the Palestinian curriculum, using shorter-term plans adapted to conditions on the ground.
"People in Gaza are eager for their children to continue learning. We reopened the school and began teaching the Palestinian curriculum after we lost hope that the Israeli genocide would stop. We suspend classes when Israeli forces intensify their attacks in the neighbourhood. We develop short-term plans according to the situation on the ground," she said.
The administrative team holds regular meetings to discuss students’ psychological and emotional wellbeing, identify possible interventions and prepare alternative plans for emergencies.
When explosions occur nearby, staff ensure that students remain inside the building and contact their families to reassure them that the children are safe.
The school has also tried to make learning more engaging through active-learning methods, psychological first aid sessions for teachers and activities that offer students moments of relief, using the limited educational materials available.
Yet these efforts cannot eliminate the constant risks facing teachers and students.
"We organise psychological first aid sessions for teachers. We try to help students rediscover the joy of learning, but the lack of basic educational technology, including computers, internet access and electricity, remains a major challenge for both students and teachers," Sahar explained.
The dangers facing staff extend beyond the classroom. Sahar described how an Arabic-language teacher narrowly escaped an Israeli airstrike on her way home.
"Two weeks ago, an Arabic-language teacher at the school survived an Israeli airstrike that struck just a few metres away from her on her way home. She came to school the following day looking pale and barely able to teach her students."
Sahar said the impact of Israel's war on the besieged enclave was also evident in students’ motivation, their ability to prepare for exams, and their daily struggle to meet basic needs.
"Many students have lost hope in learning after their schools and houses were bombed or their teachers or family members were killed. Some high school students have lost the opportunity to prepare properly for the most important academic year of their lives and pursue their dreams of studying at the university faculty of their choice," she said.
"Others arrive at school exhausted after spending hours fetching water or waiting in charity food queues. Some cannot study or rest properly in overcrowded makeshift displacement tents."
These conditions are creating a generation whose education has been severely disrupted by circumstances beyond their control, including the lack of safety, stability and suitable places for children to learn.
Sahar urged the international community and academic institutions to help end the war and support the reconstruction of Gaza’s education sector.
"We urge people of conscience around the world and international academic institutions to launch initiatives to stop the genocidal war on Gaza that is killing students and teachers and to support the reconstruction of Gaza’s education sector to safeguard the future of our children," she explained.
An education system in ruins
The destruction described by teachers and school administrators is reflected in figures provided by Gaza’s Government Media Office, which told The New Arab that 97 percent of schools in the Strip had sustained physical damage, while 80 percent of school buildings had been directly bombed or targeted.
According to the office, around 87 percent of school buildings require reconstruction or major rehabilitation before they can be used again, while 40 percent are located within the area known as the ‘Yellow Line’.
The office said the remaining schools were either too damaged to provide the basic conditions needed for teaching or had been converted into shelters for displaced Palestinians who had lost their homes.
The destruction has also taken a devastating toll on Gaza’s education workforce and students, according to the office.
"More than 1,100 teachers and educational staff members have been killed, alongside 194 scientists, academics and researchers. The loss of educators and academic professionals has deepened the crisis by depriving future generations of accumulated knowledge and expertise," it stated.
"More than 22,000 students have been killed, with thousands more injured, including some who have undergone amputations. Around 650,000 students have been deprived of school education over the past three years, creating a learning deficit that will require years of intensive remedial programmes to address."
Alongside documenting the destruction, the Government Media Office said it was working with Gaza’s Ministry of Education and other relevant authorities to record violations, update data and publish reports in several languages for international media.
It also submitted legal briefings to international organisations, United Nations bodies, and human rights organisations concerned with education and children’s rights. The office urged these organisations to fulfil their legal and moral responsibilities.
"The deprivation of children’s right to education, the targeting of schools and the killing of teachers and students constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions. These acts form part of what we consider a systematic policy of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza," it read.
The future at stake
Beyond the physical destruction of schools, the war has had serious consequences for students’ learning and development, according to Dr Hanan Abu Sakran, a former senior educational inspector at the Palestinian Ministry of Education in Gaza. She was among the first education officials to help resume learning during the war, despite the dangers.
"Education in Gaza has shifted from a structured process taking place inside schools to a daily struggle to preserve children’s right to learn under extraordinary and harsh conditions," she said.
Many students have lost their schools, books and classrooms and have been forced to study in displacement centres, tents and temporary spaces that lack the basic requirements of a safe learning environment.
Dr Hanan said the prolonged interruption to schooling had widened gaps in foundational skills, including reading, writing and mathematics.
"Education is cumulative. Students who miss these basic skills may struggle to understand more advanced lessons in later years."
The consequences extend beyond academic performance, affecting students’ confidence, motivation and ability to concentrate.
"They can include declining self-confidence and motivation, difficulty concentrating, and an increased reliance on memorisation rather than understanding," Dr Hanan told The New Arab.
Access to education has also become more limited for some than others. Some students can attend temporary schools, use educational tents or follow online lessons, while others lack internet access or a suitable place to study.
This disparity means that children of the same age may have vastly different educational opportunities, depending on their living conditions and access to resources.
Dr Hanan warned that losing experienced teachers presents another long-term challenge.
Schools do not simply transmit knowledge; they also pass on professional culture, values, teaching methods and ways of thinking.
Experienced teachers accumulate knowledge of curricula, students and the local environment over years of practice. They learn to manage complex classroom situations, identify learning difficulties and select appropriate strategies for different students.
These skills cannot be replaced quickly.
"Many of the teachers who were killed were a source of trust, safety and hope for their students, not only teachers," she said.
"We can train a new teacher, but we cannot bring back the life of a teacher we have lost, nor can we easily replace years of experience or the human impact they have left behind."
The loss of experienced educators also weakens the transfer of professional knowledge to younger teachers, making it harder for schools to maintain teaching standards and respond to students’ needs.
Looking ahead, Dr Hanan warned that without a ceasefire and measures to address learning loss, the consequences could extend into higher education and the wider education system.
"Unless there is a real ceasefire and we are able to address the learning gaps, Gaza could face a future decline in the number of students able to meet university admission requirements, as well as a growing need for lengthy and costly remedial programmes."
Addressing the crisis will require more than reopening schools.
Students’ learning levels must be assessed, their needs identified, and catch-up classes provided, alongside flexible ways for those who have missed long periods of schooling to resume their education.
It will also require sustained investment in teacher training, educational resources, psychological support and opportunities for young people to continue into higher and vocational education.
For Dr Hanan, rebuilding Gaza’s education system must begin with recognising that the loss extends beyond damaged buildings and missing textbooks.
"Rebuilding Gaza does not begin with bricks and buildings alone, but with rebuilding its people," she told The New Arab.
"Education is the path that enables our children to reclaim their lives, contribute to rebuilding their society, and shape a future defined by greater security and dignity," she added.
She called on the international community to step up efforts to end Israel’s war on Gaza, protect Palestinian children’s right to education, restore safe and equal access to learning, fund the rebuilding of schools and educational resources, and develop programmes to help children catch up on the learning they have missed.
"Do not let the children of Gaza pay with their childhoods, dreams and opportunities for a war they did not choose," she concluded.
Ahmed Dremly is a Palestinian journalist from Gaza
Follow him on Instagram: @ahmeddremly
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