A powerful and heartbreaking image has gone viral on social media, Palestinian students sitting on chairs on a beach, writing their exams under an open sky. This is not a choice. It is a result of war.
Since October 2023, Gaza’s education system has been almost destroyed. As of spring 2025, around 778 of Gaza’s 815 schools, about 95.5%, have been damaged, with roughly 574 suffering direct hits. More than 660,000 school-aged children do not have access to formal education.
Schools have been closed for three consecutive years, and students have lost teachers and classmates to the conflict. Many who should have already been in university remain stuck at the high school level because of the ongoing war.
Despite all of this, students have refused to give up. Even in a warzone, with no classrooms, no books, and barely any internet, Gaza’s students have been showing up and sitting their final exams, refusing to let war erase their future.
Gaza’s Education Ministry, together with the United Nations Development Programme, worked to administer exams online via a smartphone app, a remarkable effort under impossible conditions.
These students studying on beaches and streets are not just taking exams. They are sending a message to the world: that no amount of destruction can kill the desire to learn. Their courage deserves our attention, respect, and support.
