Higher education in Gaza will need years of international support and rebuilding after being in effect destroyed by Israeli bombardments, Palestinian academics said.

Some 90,000 students have lost access to higher education in Gaza as a result of Israel¡¯s retaliation for the 7 October 2023 attacks, with 51 university buildings destroyed and 57 damaged, according to local Ministry of Education figures.

Scholars said that, as a result, the recently commenced ceasefire had done little to address what has been branded ¡°educide¡±.

Mona Jebril, a Palestinian research fellow at the University of Cambridge, who used to work as a lecturer at universities in Gaza, said that it was ¡°really difficult to think about what could be next because of the uncertainty of the ceasefire¡±, reduced transport links within Gaza, and the scale of destruction.

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Cameron Mirza, a USAID chief of party at the International Research and Exchanges Board, said that there was ¡°no short-term solution¡± for education in Gaza, and that the ¡°whole system will need to be rebuilt¡±.

¡°The sector relies on students coming from the school sector and the schools have been destroyed. No students are sitting exams. The knock-on effect of that is that you¡¯re going to have dwindling enrolment rates for probably the next decade,¡± Mirza said.

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Universities have attempted to continue providing online learning for students in Gaza, with academics providing tuition from tents and mobile phones. The Islamic University of Gaza ¨C one of the biggest in the strip ¨C is currently??to continue teaching into its second academic term, with donations going towards establishing ¡°educational tents¡±, enhancing IT infrastructure, and providing access to online resources.?

While this may have been helpful during the fighting, it is no replacement for physical learning environments in the long term, said Ala Alazzeh, vice-president for community affairs at Birzeit University in the West Bank, adding that rebuilding campuses was ¡°essential¡± for the wider reconstruction of Gaza and Palestine.?

¡°Campus itself, the very idea of having this intellectual space, creates engagement between scholars and students. The actual physical presence and the social and cultural life within campus is as important as the education and?the knowledge that we learn in classes,¡± he said.

Alazzeh said that while some argued that the focus for now should be on supporting online learning, the lack of campuses ¡°would prevent Palestinian students and scholars from having this physical intellectual space of engagement¡±.

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Universities looking to help could provide access to digital twinning programmes, Mirza said, as well as sharing online learning materials, providing mentorship to staff and students, and psychological support. A longer-term solution would be for Western universities to consider greater partnerships and joint programmes that would reinstate Gaza¡¯s international standing.?

The most obvious caveat is that universities need financial support ¨C and a lot of it. Al-Azhar University alone has seen damage to infrastructure totalling around ?56 million.

However, Alazzeh warned that international aid given to Gaza¡¯s higher education should not be on ¡°political conditions¡±, adding: ¡°It is very, very important to us that higher education is rebuilt through Palestinian eyes, through a true Palestinian experience and for Palestinians.¡±?

Mirza added that there was an opportunity for greater collaboration between universities in the Arab region ¡°combining their efforts¡± and regional knowledge to help rebuild Gaza in its own interests. ¡°In times of trouble, solidarity is important,¡± he said.

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Higher education was ¡°an act of resistance¡± amid the turmoil, Jebril continued, adding that it would be a national priority going forward. ¡°It is important to Gaza to reconstruct higher education, but also to reconstruct the whole society. [Rebuilding higher education] will help the society socially, psychologically and economically,¡± she said.

Alazzeh agreed that rebuilding higher education was considered a ¡°high priority¡± in both Gaza and the West Bank, for both educational and psychological reasons. ¡°The very act of having a functioning higher education [system] helps rebuild hope itself. It reminds us that life is possible, and that we can have a future.¡±

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juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com