Aug 2, 6:03 AM
Human capital in the ruins: Gaza’s students pass the ultimate test
Despite the total destruction of physical infrastructure, Palestinian youth are treating academic achievement as their only viable currency for the future.
When a territory's infrastructure is reduced to dust, the rational response of its citizens is to invest in the only asset that cannot be bombed: human capital. The release of the Tawjihi high school examination results on July 24 provided a stark illustration of this survival mechanism. Across the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, some 89,000 students sat for the defining exams of their academic lives. Palestinian Minister of Education Amjad Barham confirmed that within Gaza alone, 36,900 students participated this year, joining a cohort of over 106,000 who have taken the tests there over the past three years.
The backdrop to these academic exercises is near-total systemic collapse. United Nations assessments indicate that 97 percent of schools in the territory have sustained damage or destruction, with 92 percent requiring major rehabilitation. The death toll includes 1,100 students scheduled to sit for the current round of testing. Yet, the local population continues to treat the curriculum with a reverence usually reserved for stable peacetime societies.
In Khan Younis, the Musa family offers a case study in this relentless pursuit of credentialism. Siblings Sama, Abdullah, and Nada achieved scores of 97.5, 94.6, and 94.4 percent, respectively. For Abdullah and Nada, physical disabilities precluded attendance at standard private lessons, prompting their mother, Hind Muhanna, to arrange home tutoring. The family viewed high academic performance as a calculated insulation against a deeply uncertain future, attributing their success to years of instilled confidence.
The logistics of instruction in this environment border on the absurd. In Deir el-Balah, mathematics teacher Hanaa al-Sayed conducted classes in a school doubling as a shelter for displaced persons. Without desks, students absorbed mathematical formulas while sitting on floor mats. Al-Sayed noted that her role frequently shifted from academic instruction to psychological triage, managing teenagers burdened by profound personal losses.
The individual toll of this conflict is staggering, yet it has not derailed the bureaucratic machinery of education. Tala Abu Sukkar, a student from the Bureij refugee camp, sat for her exams after losing her father, brother, sister, and four nieces and nephews during recent hostilities. Having already lost her mother in 2010, she now resides with her uncle. Despite this severe trauma, she secured an 86 percent average on her final assessments.
These results expose a fundamental societal calculation. When physical assets and industries are compromised, education becomes the sole remaining currency. The Palestinian commitment to the Tawjihi system reveals a pragmatic truth. For the youth of Gaza, securing a diploma is not a standard rite of passage, but a disciplined acquisition of the only capital they can carry with them across borders or into a post-conflict economy.
Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com
