Gaza’s children show remarkable bravery as they fight for education in unsafe tent camps where sniper fire and shelling remain a constant threat. Their daily walk to improvised tent schools in a conflict zone reveals both deep danger and extraordinary resilience.
Gaza children’s bravery under sniper threats for education
In northern Gaza, seven-year-old Tulin prepares for her first school day in two years inside a thin tent shaken by nearby gunfire. Her mother walks her to one of the makeshift schools on the edge of the so‑called “yellow zone”, a strip of land close to Israeli forces where sniper threats and stray bullets are frequent.
Each morning, her mother feels torn between fear and the need for learning. Without the war, Tulin would attend second grade in a regular classroom. Instead, she crosses rubble and open ground in Beit Lahiya, constantly searching for a wall or any cover from the firing that echoes across this conflict zone.
Inside the tent school, children sit on the floor. The canvas cannot stop bullets, yet lessons go on. Their presence alone in these unsafe conditions shows a level of bravery and commitment to education that many adults worldwide struggle to grasp.
Daily routine under fire in Gaza tent schools
The teacher in Tulin’s class describes how teaching in these tent schools works. At any time, sniper shots or shelling interrupt a lesson. When firing starts, she tells the children to “take the sleeping position” and lie flat on the ground until the noise fades.
She feels her heart racing each time, hoping no child gets hurt. Yet she returns every morning, convinced that denying Palestinian children access to knowledge reinforces a policy of ignorance, while her goal is to protect learning and dignity.
Another student, Ahmed, lost his father during the war. He walks to class under sniper threats, explaining that he wants to honour his father’s dream and study medicine. His story mirrors many others who continue to attend makeshift schools despite the danger, showing how grief and hope coexist in their daily choices.
Destroyed schools in Gaza and the rise of makeshift tent schools
The situation for education in Gaza is described by UNICEF as one of the largest educational catastrophes seen in recent decades. Around 98 percent of schools have suffered damage, from shattered windows to complete destruction. Many surviving buildings serve as shelters for displaced families, so typical schooling is impossible.
As a result, families, volunteers, and local groups set up makeshift schools anywhere they find space. Plastic sheets, tarps, or blurred stadium corners become temporary classrooms. The “Great Minds of Gaza” initiative, for example, created several improvised learning spaces across the Strip, some of them teaching 1,000 students at a time with basic materials.
Similar community efforts elsewhere show how local action supports learning in crisis. Projects such as inclusive education partnerships with UNRWA in Italy highlight how international collaboration helps refugee students keep some form of continuity, even when formal schools disappear.
Numbers behind Gaza’s education collapse
UNICEF estimates that roughly 638,000 school-aged children in Gaza, plus about 70,000 in kindergarten, lost two full academic years and enter a third year without stable schooling. Around 88 percent of existing school buildings need total reconstruction or deep rehabilitation before safe use.
Despite this, temporary learning centres reach only a fraction of the young population. About 135,000 students attend 109 such centres, many of which operate in tents or damaged buildings. The gap between need and reach remains huge, reinforcing long-term educational loss along with trauma.
Experiences from other regions under strain, such as the analysis of school board funding and children’s outcomes or special education struggles in Kansas City, show that infrastructure breakdown affects children for years. In Gaza, the scale is far worse, yet the principle remains clear: when schools fall, children pay the price for decades.
Psychological impact and resilience of Gaza children in conflict zones
The loss of buildings is visible. The inner damage is harder to see. In Gaza, field teams report strong developmental regression among many children. Some lost the ability to speak clearly, others struggle with basic social interaction after months of displacement, fear, and hunger.
Teachers in tent schools often play a double role as educators and emotional anchors. Before starting lessons, they ask about nightmares, sleep, and headaches. Children describe fear of the open sky, fear of loud noises, and fear of separation from parents. Learning in this conflict zone first requires emotional stabilisation.
Supporting mental health and resilience in Gaza’s tent schools
UNICEF and local partners shape a “Back to Learning” campaign that includes academic content and recreational activities. The focus is not only on Arabic, English, maths, and science but also on games, drawing, storytelling, and group play to help children regain some sense of security.
Global experiences highlight how mental health support strengthens resilience. Research on Caribbean children’s mental health shows that play-based approaches and trusted adults reduce trauma effects. Gaza’s tent classrooms try to mirror such practices within the severe limits of a conflict zone.
Teachers also introduce simple routines: morning check-ins, small leadership roles, and end-of-day reflections. These predictable patterns provide stability when everything else feels uncertain. In these settings, resilience grows not from bold slogans, but from quiet repetition and care.
The goal is clear. Before students concentrate on exams or grades, they need space to feel safe enough to ask questions, talk about their fears, and slowly reconnect with learning.
Learning with no books and limited materials in Gaza makeshift schools
Since October 2023, educational supplies entering Gaza remain almost nonexistent. Teachers in tent schools often work without textbooks, printed worksheets, or lab tools. They depend on oral explanations, reused scraps of paper, and the few notebooks families managed to keep during displacement.
This scarcity forces creativity. Educators design math problems using stones, bottle caps, or lines in the sand. Reading practice often involves shared handwritten texts on cardboard. Even in these conditions, the goal is to keep education continuous so children do not lose basic literacy and numeracy.
How Gaza teachers adapt to conflict zone limitations
Teachers across Gaza apply techniques similar to those used by educators working with limited resources worldwide. Stories from projects such as church-based literacy access initiatives or support for children learning at home without formal materials show that pedagogy does not depend only on technology or large budgets.
Common strategies in Gaza’s makeshift schools include:
- Oral storytelling to build vocabulary, history knowledge, and listening skills.
- Peer teaching where older students help younger ones review letters, numbers, or simple science concepts.
- Learning games using stones, sticks, and chalk to teach counting, grouping, and basic geometry.
- Song and rhythm to memorise letters, words, and multiplication tables.
- Role play for social skills, languages, and conflict resolution.
These techniques protect core skills while children remain in danger. They also keep curiosity alive, which is a key part of long-term resilience in any conflict zone.
Despite their impact, these solutions do not replace structured curricula or proper materials. Long-term quality learning still requires books, trained staff, and safe facilities.
Global responsibility and the future of Gaza children’s education
Gaza’s crisis raises broad questions about children’s rights to education during war. International bodies often state that no child should choose between school and physical safety. Yet in Gaza, daily choices for children like Tulin and Ahmed involve exactly this tension under ongoing sniper threats.
Debates about where societies invest resources echo in many contexts. Studies comparing early retirement priorities versus education funding show how public budgets reflect values. In Gaza, the argument is more urgent: continued restrictions on learning materials and safe spaces risk creating a generation with deep educational gaps.
What other education movements teach us about resilience
Global experiences confirm that sustained support changes outcomes for children in crisis. Work on empowering Black children in under-resourced communities and university-school collaborations to strengthen teacher training shows that strategic partnerships raise quality even under pressure.
For Gaza, this means linking local teachers, international agencies, and global education experts to keep learning alive. When restrictions ease, such networks help rebuild schools faster, train new staff, and design recovery programmes that address both academic loss and trauma.
The stories from Gaza’s tent schools offer a stark lesson. Children in a conflict zone show immense bravery and resilience, but they should not stand alone. Their determination to walk past sniper threats for the chance to learn calls on adults everywhere to protect and prioritise education, even when war tries to silence it.