For Palestinians, Education A Vital Weapon To Combat Israel's Control

KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Bernama) -- The Israeli regime wants to create a generation of ignorant Palestinians by intentionally targeting to destroy educational institutions and cutting off all access to education for the Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip. Schools and education institutions in the enclave had long been a primary target by the regime’s decades of atrocities. Director General of International Relations at the Education Ministry, Gaza, Ahmed Abu Ayesh Alnajjar, said against all these oppression, the Palestinians had prevailed and are indomitable in their quest for knowledge. “Since 1948, they (Israel) had been intentionally targeting (to destroy) education institutions because schools are the main source of knowledge for our children. Their target is to create a ignorant generation; they want Palestinians to be illiterate. “They (Israel) know if a country is full of people who can’t read or write, it is easy to control them,” he said in a phone interview with Bernama from Gaza. He said Palestinians also value education highly. With only 365 square kilometres in size, Ahmed said there are currently 764 schools in Gaza, where 422 are run by the government and 278 are managed by the United Nations, while 64 others are private schools. There are also eight universities and 15 colleges in the congested enclave of some two million people. Palestine has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, he added. According to the Palestinian Centre Bureau of Statistics, illiteracy among Palestinians aged 15 and above in 2020 was 2.6 per cent. “Alhamdulillah, we have one of the highest literacy rates. We, Palestinians are people who love knowledge and we consider education as the most vital weapon to regain our rights, build a strong generation, and to liberate our country,” he said. SCHOOLS, A PRIMARY TARGET Schools in Gaza are not just centres of learning for Palestinian children. They also serve as emergency shelters for civilians seeking refuge from Israeli military aggression. “The situation worsen; with many schools now seriously damaged and many others used as shelters, we don’t have enough facilities for learning. Now, we have 51 schools used as shelters, where 50 were fully occupied,” he said. He said a total of 46 schools in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed and badly damaged by the Israeli regime during the latest brutal onslaught. Besides the schools, two education directorates were also damaged, he added. He said the regime had also destroyed the main infrastructure in the enclave including electricity towers – cutting off the access to online learning. At least 65 children had been killed while 700 children were injured during the recent attacks which started on May 10. The hostilities ended with a temporary and unconditional ceasefire brokered by Egypt on May 20. ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION Ahmed said the Education Ministry has been striving to provide quality education to all children in Gaza. “The ministry collaborates with international bodies like the UN and the community, and make sure our system and syllabus are up to date so that we can provide quality education for our children,” he said. He said since the global COVID-19 pandemic outbreak last year, the education ministry had moved to teaching and learning online in the efforts to contain the spread of the disease. “We have been able to achieve some successes in online learning. Unfortunately, now this happened,” he said, referring to the 11-day offensive. He said that based on the ministry’s data, there are currently 591,599 school children aged 6 to 17 in Gaza. It is also compulsory for the students to learn five subjects – Arabic language, English, Mathematics, Science and National subjects in school. According to Ahmed, the ministry is also in need of aid to reconstruct damaged school buildings and build new schools. He also urged the international community to continue to pressure the Israeli regime to end the blockade and siege on Gaza, since 2007. “The siege is very suffocating. They must allow humanitarian aid and construction materials to come in, so we can reconstruct schools and rebuild Gaza,” he added. -- BERNAMA