Gaza children struggle with studies during COVID-19 lockdown

Gaza City – Walaa Jamal, 33, from the Shati refugee camp struggles to cover the educational gap for her four children amid school closures because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She uses her old smartphone to connect them with their teachers remotely to receive daily instruction. “Each child has a different educational level and needs to connect with her or his teacher at the same time, so I organise this by allocating time for each of them,” Walaa said. Israel’s crippling 13-year blockade of Gaza has resulted in regular electricity shortages and internet disruption, compounding the education challenges. On March 5, the Palestinian presidency declared a state of emergency, which included closing all educational institutions, as part of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. At the beginning of September, the Gaza-based government decided to reopen the schools. However, the detection of COVID-19 in the community for the first time led to another shutdown. There was not enough time to distribute books to the pupils. “Remote learning is exhausting as the mobile screen is too small, but there is no other option. The children don’t have books and they need to follow up their lessons or they will be uneducated,” said Walaa. Three of her children are in primary school and the other is in kindergarten. “When my children get homework from their teachers on WhatsApp they write it on paper, I take photos for the answer and then I send to the teacher over WhatsApp to get their evaluation and feedback,” she added. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">