UNICEF warns of losing entire generation in Gaza as education system collapses

GAZA, Oct. 25 (YPA) – UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, warned of the growing  risk of losing an entire generation in the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip, where the education system is in a state of “collapse” after two years of war.

 “This is the third year without school,” Beigbeder said in a press statement after returning from the Strip. “If we don’t ensure a genuine return to learning for all children by February, we will reach a fourth year, and a truly lost generation.”

 He noted that with the ceasefire taking effect on October 10, UNICEF and its education partners were able to “return about one-sixth of the children who should be in school to temporary learning spaces.”

 However, he was talking about learning, not education, as “85% of schools have been destroyed or rendered unusable,” while many of the remaining schools are being used as shelters for displaced persons.

 Children and teachers also face ongoing mobility difficulties due to displacement and military operations, while most teachers are busy providing food and water for their families.

 “How can classrooms be rehabilitated without cement?” Beigbeder asked. “We also need the bare minimum of notebooks, books, tools, and stationery,” adding, “Food is a matter of survival, but education is hope.”

 He emphasized that he was deeply moved by what he described as the determination of the Gazan community to “reorganize their lives, clear the rubble, reopen small shops, and try to restore some aspects of life.”

 However, he also expressed “shock” at the scale of the destruction, saying, “It is difficult to imagine that 80% of the Gaza Strip has been almost completely razed to the ground,” leaving only “small pockets of buildings here and there.”

@E.Y.M