Context

Gaza’s higher education system has suffered significantly since the start of Israel’s military operation in October 2023. Since the beginning of the offensive on Gaza, at least 12 universities and colleges in Gaza have been destroyed; an estimated 94 university professors have been killed, as have hundreds of students and dozens of university administrators. All higher education in Gaza has ceased for the time being, so much so that experts now speak of a generalised “educide”.

Given the scale of the destruction of infrastructure, it is believed highly unlikely that schools, colleges and universities in Gaza will be able to resume their previously existing functioning in the near future. When the time comes, universities and colleges in Gaza will need help resuming their activities and reinstating their curricula. Without external and international support, such a resumption is unlikely to happen.

Access to education, and higher education included, cannot wait for buildings to be rebuilt, and education staff to be reconstituted. The right to education is a fundamental human right recognised by the UDHR and numerous other international law treatises. Numerous studies have shown the devasting (intellectual, psychological, social and political) impact of the interruption of education on students and pupils. Higher education is vital for present and future Palestinian society, as it is for all societies.

Aim

Our project aims at helping Gazan students resume their studies, through online teaching.

We are gathering a team of external professors in all subjects, able to teach in Arabic or English, who would teach online to Palestinian students, wherever the local faculty is unable to teach. The credits awarded for the course will be validated by the students’ own universities in Gaza.

We have partnered up with An-Najah university (Nablus, West Bank), which sets up the virtual classrooms and organises the courses, according to the needs of Gazan students (https://initiative.najah.edu/invitation/)

We are pleased to announce that our professors started teaching Gazan students in April 2024. So far, our professors have taught approx. 300 Gazan students in courses as varied as Electrical Engineering, Introduction to Python, French Writing or Discrete Mathematics.

If you are an academic, in any subject, willing to participate in this important project, please reach out here