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After more than 10 months of Israeli bombardment that destroyed much of Gaza, including schools and education authorities, parents are wondering whether they will be able to get their children back into class for the new academic year.
The estimated 630,000 pupils in the Palestinian enclave have been denied access to education over the past year as Israel's bombardment and ground offensive has forced much of the population to flee from one place to another in search of safety, with many families struggling to find proper shelter, food and water.
Schools were turned into shelters for displaced people, with many being struck by Israel in what it said were attacks on militant groups there.
We lost everything, not just an educational year, but we must save our children from ignorance
Haneen Abu Zer,
displaced Gazan
The Palestinian Ministry of Education, based in the occupied West Bank, said on Tuesday that 186 schools in Gaza had been severely damaged or completely destroyed during the war.
Despite this, on Sunday it announced it had decided to resume classes in Gaza "from tents and through online education" for the academic year starting on September 9. But with the war still raging, a spokesman for the government media office in Gaza said it was impossible to make such plans.
“Currently it’s not possible to discuss any plans from the education authorities in Gaza because there is no capacity to hold any meeting or consult on details,” Salama Marouf told The National.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) which runs schools in the strip, said it had no plans to begin formal education at its centres.
“We don’t have any new update regarding the start of the educational year and we only started, since the first of August, entertainment activities for students as non-formal education,” the agency's spokeswoman, Inas Hamdan, told The National.
Parents such as Rasha Yahya, 31, are more alarmed by the impact of the war on their children. “It's not just about them missing out on their education; the children in Gaza have lost their peace of mind, all their memories, their games and their comfortable lives," Ms Yahya, who has a seven-year-old daughter, told The National.
Ms Yahya said she does not imagine it will be easy for life to return to what it was before the war.
“The children need a massive programme, supported by the Ministry of Education and UNRWA, to help them regain some of their pre-war lives and reintegrate into the educational process as it was before it began," she said.
Seeing the effect that the violence has had on her child, Ms Yayha suggested the next school year be filled with activities and games that support children's psychological state to help them process what they have been through.
In-person learning, she said, is also more vital now than ever. “I'm also against online education, even if the internet and electricity were available, because it will never be like in-person education, which can improve a child's behaviour and correct the bad habits and ideas they've picked up during the war."
Mounes Youssef, 38, a father of five from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, said pupils will need mental and emotional preparation for the new school year because of the duress that they had been under during bombardment.
“The children need a lot of psychological support and rehabilitation, and the Ministry of Education should take these factors into account," Mr Youssef said.
"Sending students directly back into the educational process without proper rehabilitation and effective awareness won't be suitable at all."
Mr Youssef lost his home in this war, and several of his relatives. Some of his children's friends were also killed in the war.
“We lived in UNRWA schools as displaced people for over two months, moving from one house to another," he said. "The children's memories of school and education have faded, and their days have become filled with fetching water, searching for food at charity kitchens and dealing with other daily survival challenges.”
Mr Youssef said he felt his children were not ready to go back to school and needed to be reacclimatised before classes could begin.
Haneen Abu Zer, 28, believes the decision to commence education is important for her two children who are in kindergarten and first grade.
But similar to Mr Youssef, she does not think her children are ready to start studying, something she found out by trying to teach them herself.
"I tried to teach my daughter how to write and read, but I failed because she’s in first grade, and this educational stage requires specialists," she told The National.
Ms Abu Zer is originally from Gaza city, but now lives in Al Zawaida, in the southern Gaza Strip, where she has been displaced. She hopes the war will end soon so she can return to her home and normal life. "We lost everything, not just an educational year, but we must save our children from ignorance," she said.
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
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Timeline
2012-2015
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Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
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May 2025
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Engine 6.9-litre twin-turbo W12
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
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