Gaza's Education in Dismay as World Marks Int’l Literacy Day
International Literacy Day is marked annually on September 8 since 1967.
“Literacy is a fundamental human right for all,” the official website of UNESCO has stressed in its dedicated page for the day. This year, however, the occasion comes as hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza have been robbed of their right to attend school.
The Israeli regime unleased its devastating war on the besieged Gaza Strip on October 7 last year. The aerial and ground attacks have claimed the lives of more than 40,800 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children. Among the victims are more than 10,000 students, 400 teachers, and 150 university staff, as per reports by the Gaza Media Office.
The brutal Israeli aggression has also partially or completely destroyed more than 75 percent of schools in Gaza, according to UNRWA.
According to the data, more than 620,000 students have been denied an education in the besieged strip since the war started.
With some 90% of the 2.3 million population of Gaza being displaced, some educational tents have been set up in different areas for students to teach them Arabic, math, and English, among other subjects, with volunteers acting as teachers. However, these tents lack the required standards for a proper education. Besides, how can children focus on learning when they hear bombs being dropped in their neighborhood?
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“The war has had a negative impact on our students' psychological well-being; they are much more aggressive now. At this time of year, these students should be in their classrooms, studying normally,” Mustafa Abu Amra, an Arabic teacher who used to work at an UNRWA school, The National reported on Wednesday.
“Students are suffering from many things, including a lack of education, nutrition, and security – all of which have negatively affected their learning,” he said.
Um Motaz Kaloub, a mother of five, is one in thousands of mothers who are worried about the education of their children amid the war. “We have to save the students; they are completely devastated. They've already lost one year, and there's uncertainty about this year too,” said Kaloun, whose eldest should be in the 9th grade, while her youngest is supposed to be starting 1st grade this year.
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Let’s not forget that people in Gaza are Muslim, and Islamic and Quranic teachings lay special importance to the acquiring of knowledge.
The Almighty God in the Holy Quran does not consider learned and ignorant people to be equal, as He regards education as among the missions and responsibilities of the prophets.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "Seek knowledge even if it is in China," and he set the condition for the release of prisoners as teaching the skills of reading and writing to those deprived of literacy. Imam Ali (AS) considers the wealth of a wise person to be in their knowledge and actions.
Imam Sadiq (AS) once said: "If people knew the benefits of acquiring knowledge, they would rush to learn it even if it required them to spill their blood, enter the seas, and face whirlpools."
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"Literacy for mutual understanding and peace" has been named as one of the themes of this year’s International Literacy Day. And “peace” is among the urgent needs of students in Gaza.
Launching global campaigns, holding conferences, and granting awards to activists on this special day are not negative measures, but it is high time for the international organizations and the so-called human rights bodies to take urgent action to stop the Israeli aggression and force the regime to accept a ceasefire.
Do the defenseless, helpless, and innocent children, teenagers, girls, and women of Gaza and Palestine not have the right to peace, joy, health, security, and access to education?
What practical and sincere actions have governments and international organizations taken to achieve the goals of International Literacy Day to ensure the right to education and learning, justice, peace, and the preservation of human dignity, especially in the case of Gaza?
