Education is often described as a bridge to the future. In Gaza, that bridge has been systematically broken and the cost is being paid by children. The figures are almost too stark to absorb. UNICEF says nearly 98 per cent of school buildings in Gaza are damaged, with more than 93 per cent requiring major rehabilitation or complete reconstruction. Around 81 per cent have been directly hit. Nearly 700,000 children have missed formal, in-person schooling for almost three consecutive academic years.  These are not merely statistics about buildings and classrooms. They represent millions of lost school hours, interrupted childhoods and futures placed on indefinite hold. For children, school is more than a place where mathematics, science or history are taught. It is routine. It is friendship. It is the reassuring presence of teachers. It is a space where a child can imagine becoming a doctor, engineer, teacher or writer before the demands of adult life begin to close in. In Gaza, even that ordinary experience has become extraordinary. UNICEF estimates that around 420,000 children currently have no face-to-face learning at all. The agency says roughly 60 million tons of debris obstruct Gaza’s streets, with unexploded ordnance among the hazards confronting children trying to reach learning spaces. The destruction of education therefore cannot be measured simply by counting damaged school buildings. The deeper damage is the loss of continuity. A child who misses one term can catch up. A child who misses a year may struggle. But children who spend nearly three years without a normal classroom face a very different problem: learning itself begins to erode. UNICEF warns of severe learning loss, including deterioration in foundational literacy and numeracy, while prolonged disruption increases the risk of permanent dropout.  There is also a psychological dimension. UNICEF says nearly one million children in Gaza need mental-health and psychosocial support. Education can........

© The Patriot