Gaza students overcome Israel’s genocide to celebrate Tawjihi results

In the Musa household location successful Khan Younis, confederate Gaza, for 3 siblings, the announcement of this year’s high schoolhouse introspection results connected July 24 reflected a agelong travel of determination.

Despite the ongoing genocide successful Gaza, Sama, Abdullah and Nada Musa had focused each their attraction connected their Tawjihi, a bid of exams for Palestinian precocious schoolhouse students, to insulate their futures from incessant hardships and uncertainty.

Their trepidation turned into a household solemnisation erstwhile each 3 recovered retired that they had passed their exams with flying colours. Sama scored 97.5 percent, Abdullah 94.6 percent, and Nada, 94.4 percent.

Sama Musa, who achieved the highest people among the siblings, said the way to world occurrence was “exceptional and difficult”.

“Thank God for everything. I expected a higher grade, but the circumstances determined the effect we achieved,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“Even psychologically, a idiosyncratic did not person the vigor to continue, but I challenged each circumstances truthful I could marque my household blessed and execute the people I had dreamed of for years.”

Educational challenges

The way was peculiarly demanding for Abdullah and Nada, who could not be backstage lessons owed to their carnal disabilities, truthful the household arranged for teachers to travel to their home.

Their mother, Hind Muhanna, says years of attraction and enactment had played a relation successful their children achieving exceptional grades. “Thank God, we worked precise hard for them, and contiguous I americium reaping the fruits of their success. Our efforts did not spell to waste,” she told Al Jazeera.

“We ever made them consciousness that they were amended than everyone else. From kindergarten done school, everyone who knew them would inquire me: ‘What is the concealed down their confidence?’”

Nada Musa acknowledged that their parents’ enactment was a cardinal information to propulsion them towards achieving precocious grades.

“Thank God, due to the fact that of my parents I was capable to situation each difficulties. They supported maine astatine each measurement and ne'er fell short,” she said.

Despite the students’ enactment and parents’ backing, the genocide successful Gaza inevitably affected their world year, truthful Abdullah was relieved that their grades reflected the family’s associated efforts.

“Thank God, it was a people that reflected the effort and hard work. It was a precise hard twelvemonth filled with displacement and hardships, but contempt the pain, we were capable to scope the apical and execute the goals we worked for,” helium said.

The Musa household successful Khan Younis [Eman Abyu Zayed/Al Jazeera]

In an situation that makes beingness for Palestinians unbearable, thousands of students successful Gaza – including the 3 siblings – worked hard implicit the twelvemonth to hole themselves for the exams.

Palestinian Minister of Education Amjad Barham said astir 89,000 students successful the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip took the Tawjihi this year. Another 2,000 students sat for the exams successful 46 different countries.

Barham said that much than 106,000 students successful Gaza person taken the Tawjihi exams implicit the past 3 years, including 36,900 students successful 2026. More than 1,100 students who were owed to instrumentality the Tawjihi exams this twelvemonth were killed by Israel.

Israel’s warfare connected Gaza has besides seen thousands of homes destroyed, schools bombed, roads uprooted, and educational resources barred from entering Gaza.

The United Nations said successful November, soon aft a truce was announced for Gaza, that much than 97 percent of schools person been damaged oregon destroyed implicit the past 2 years of war.

Gaza’s acquisition strategy was connected the verge of collapse, the UN added, with astir 92 percent of acquisition facilities requiring afloat reconstruction oregon large rehabilitation to go functional.

Teaching amid a genocide

Also down the students’ occurrence were teachers who continued their duties contempt the exceptional circumstances.

Hanaa al-Sayed, a mathematics teacher, supported a fig of Tawjihi students done classes astatine an acquisition centre successful Deir el-Balah, cardinal Gaza, amid the demolition wrought by Israel.

Many students arrived astatine people carrying dense intelligence loads caused by the grief and trauma of losing household members. Her effect to the concern was to dainty them not conscionable arsenic her students, but besides arsenic children, with emotion and care.

“The students did not lone request idiosyncratic to explicate the curriculum; they needed idiosyncratic to perceive to them and basal beside them,” she told Al Jazeera.

“I treated them arsenic if they were my ain daughters, trying to enactment them psychologically earlier teaching them mathematics.”

Thousands of Palestinian children person had to survey successful tents oregon shelters during Israel’s warfare connected Gaza [Abdel Kareem Hana]

Inside the school, which besides served arsenic a structure for displaced people, children sat connected mats during lessons.

“There were nary desks oregon chairs. The schoolhouse was divided betwixt Tawjihi students and displaced people, but contempt that, we insisted connected continuing education,” she said.

Palestinians person demonstrated a committedness to acquisition contempt the hard circumstances they person faced implicit the past decades, and the Tawjihi results this twelvemonth bespeak this.

“What I saw from the students was thing exceptional. They came to survey contempt everything astir them due to the fact that they judge acquisition is their way to the future,” Hanaa said.

Some of her students who paused their acquisition earlier the warfare person since returned to school.

“There were students who had mislaid anticipation of completing their acquisition earlier the war, but they returned and decided to commencement again,” Hanaa said. “This reflects the level of determination and tendency to execute their dreams.”

Celebrations amid grief

While galore students celebrated their Tawjihi results, this was besides a clip mixed with grief.

Tala Abu Sukkar, from the Bureij exile campy successful cardinal Gaza, mislaid her mother, Salwa, successful 2010 erstwhile she was conscionable 2 years old. During the warfare connected Gaza, she mislaid her older member Yusuf, past her father, Mahmoud, followed by her sister and her 4 nephews and nieces. Tala present lives with her uncle, who became her main enactment carer aft the nonaccomplishment of truthful galore household members, and took her Tawjihi exams this year.

The last twelvemonth of schoolhouse was not lone an world challenge, but besides a large intelligence conflict arsenic she tried to header with the symptom and grief that followed her passim the year.

“I mislaid radical who were portion of my life. The hardest happening was continuing my way portion carrying each this symptom wrong me, but I tried to enactment beardown and support going,” she said.

“The Tawjihi play was 1 of the astir hard stages I person gone through. I was studying portion trying to woody with grief, but I had a extremity to win and execute thing that would marque my household proud.”

Tala’s father, Mahmoud, with 3 of his grandchildren [Supplied/Al Jazeera]

When she received her certificate, achieving an mean people of 86 percent, it was a infinitesimal mixed with joyousness and sadness.

“When the results appeared, I felt mixed emotions. I was blessed that I succeeded, but I wished my begetter and my household members were with maine to stock this joy,” she said.

“My uncle has been my enactment aft losing my family, and his beingness beside maine helped maine proceed and not springiness up.”

The stories of this year’s Tawjihi students successful Gaza correspond the determination of a procreation to proceed acquisition and enactment towards a amended future, contempt large hardships.

Despite losing loved ones, changing learning environments and regular difficulties, students continued their travel with the enactment of loving household members and teachers.

The Tawjihi travel is simply a communicative of patience and determination but besides shows however important acquisition is to Palestinians’ lives. For the children of Gaza, schools stay a spot of hope, attraction and ambition.