GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), In Gaza, the final secondary school exam, known locally as Tawjihi, has ceased to be a routine academic milestone and instead become a struggle for survival, as students push to continue their education amid a devastating war that has crippled the enclave and threatened the future of an entire generation.
According to UNICEF, more than 97 percent of schools in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, while 91.8 percent of educational facilities require full reconstruction or major rehabilitation.
With around 658,000 school-age children deprived of in-person learning for over two years, the Tawjihi has come to symbolize students’ determination to pursue education despite extreme circumstances.
In response, Education Above All Foundation launched the “Rebuilding Hope in Gaza” initiative, which began by establishing temporary learning spaces before evolving into a structured program in partnership with the Palestinian Ministry of Education and the United Nations Development Program to safeguard the formal education process.
In its second phase, supported by the Qatar Fund for Development, the project delivered 100 equipped learning spaces, a digital examination platform, and 10,000 tablets, enabling around 90,000 students to sit for Tawjihi exams. It also provided academic support to approximately 30,000 students, alongside psychosocial services.
By May 2026, more than 60,000 students had taken the exams, with another 30,000 preparing to do so in improvised learning environments built amid the rubble, including classrooms, protective barriers, and generators serving surrounding communities.
Despite these efforts, students’ stories reflect the immense challenges they face. Noor, 18, described how she took her exams after being displaced and losing her home and books.
Mohammed, also 18, balances daily survival pressures with studying in the absence of electricity and quiet. Amal managed to take her exams from inside a displacement shelter, determined to pursue her dream of studying nursing.
These accounts highlight that Tawjihi in Gaza is no longer just an academic test, but a measure of resilience and willpower, as hundreds of thousands of children remain out of classrooms amid widespread destruction and human losses that threaten the future of an entire generation.
