Nearly all schools in Gaza are destroyed, with 91.8% of educational facilities requiring complete reconstruction or major rehabilitation, according to UNICEF. Still, hundreds of thousands of students are preparing for the Tawjihi exams-the secondary school graduation test-set for June 20 to July 8.
Exams will be held in tents, partially destroyed buildings, and displacement centers. Roughly 658,000 children have had no in-person schooling for over two years.
Mohammed Hamdan, director of education in central Gaza, described preparations under conditions he has never seen. "We are working hard to provide the bare minimum of school furniture so that students can at least sit on a chair while taking their exams," he said. Central Gaza houses about one-third of the territory's secondary students.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education has opened registration not only for students completing 11th grade this year but also for those who missed graduation in 2023, 2024, and 2025-absorbing two years of disruption.
Teacher Louay Ballour reported visible psychological distress among students, especially in primary grades. "There are clear psychological disorders among students because of the war. We try to integrate them into the educational process," he said.
More than half of internally displaced students are now in the south, compared with 35% in the north, deepening educational inequality. At least 411 teachers have been killed since October 2023, and a UNESCO assessment found that more than 1,100 higher education workers have been killed, detained, or injured. Almost all university buildings have been partially or totally damaged.