Gaza’s High School Students Blame Israel for Missing Exams
(AWP) - Students of the thanawiya amma (high school) in the Gaza Strip on Monday held a press conference outside the Shohada’ al-Aqsa Hospital in which they accused Israel of “confiscating” their right to education and denying them the chance to take their exams.
Samar Khodeir, a female high school student, read out a statement in the name of the students in which she appealed to the international community and global organizations to work on bringing the war to an end and guaranteeing the right of the young people of Gaza to education.
“We appeal to the international community and global organizations to bring the war on Gaza to an end and intervene to come up with practical and effective solutions to rescue our educational future by all means so we may catch up with our peers in the other part of the homeland (West Bank) and the world at large,” she said.
The press conference coincided with the announcement of the thanawiya amma exam results for the students in the West Bank while the students in Gaza could not take the exam due to the Israeli war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Khodeir called on the world to work on guaranteeing the right of Gaza students to education and rescuing them from “the hell” they were going through.
“We demand our right to education and an aspiring future and to provide security and peace for all of us. With extreme agony, we appeal to all foundations of the international community and all free people of the world to save whatever can be saved after all the death we clearly witnessed. Save us from this hell we are going through every day,” she noted.
“We refuse to become nothing but numbers in victim tallies. We reject the policies of a destructive Israel to hamper the educational process. We demand recognition of our dignity as individuals dreaming of a bright future and durable peace,” added Khodeir.
The ministry of education and higher education in Ramallah announced the results of the thanawiya amma exams for the students in the West Bank. The 39,000 students of the same stage of education in the Gaza Strip did not take the exam because of the Israeli war on the enclave that started with the beginning of the school year.
The ministry announced that 10,000 students and 400 teachers in Gaza have been killed in Israeli attacks.