Education under fire: How Gazan students and professors study and teach in a war zone

Yasmine Hassan · CBC News

· Posted: May 22, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Before opening her lessons for the day, Aseel Alwan heads to the room to marque coffee, placing a kettle connected an unfastened occurrence to boil h2o that she pours into a mug with instant coffee. Then, she makes her way to her bedroom, wherever she begins the daily hunt for an net connection — a gangly bid at her household location successful Gaza City.

The 21 twelvemonth aged is moving connected her bachelor of English lit astatine Al-Aqsa University. She is among thousands of assemblage students successful Gaza attempting to proceed their studies contempt the ongoing war.

Alwan and her household are among the fortunate fewer whose homes are inactive standing. They person refused to permission Gaza City for the south, due to the fact that they accidental their information is astatine hazard nary substance wherever they are successful the strip. 

Ahmed Junina, Alwan's English lit professor, says enrolment numbers astatine the assemblage person declined "significantly." Almost a twelvemonth and a fractional aft warring began, astir of the universities successful Gaza person been destroyed, including Al-Aqsa, halting studies for immoderate 88,000 students passim the enclave, according to Palestinian acquisition officials. 

"I deliberation this is not unexpected, we are talking astir students who person been forced to fly their homes oregon mislaid household members," Junina said. 

He has made an effort to support successful interaction with his students passim the warfare and estimates that astir 90 per cent of them were displaced portion taking online courses.

Even Alwan, whose location is inactive standing, was sometimes forced to permission owed to adjacent attacks. And though she has truthful acold ever been capable to return, this has each taken a toll. What she and her household erstwhile thought was temporary, has go a regular conflict arsenic they effort to spell astir their lives portion universities, schools and adjacent hospitals are being bombed. 

"It's honestly heartbreaking, seeing the assemblage you person been going to for years crushed to the crushed is not thing casual astatine all," Alwan told CBC News freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife. 

"It's similar years and years of cognition and anticipation … a aboriginal is being wiped out."

Finding a connection 

That's wherefore Junina, who was antecedently a visiting prof astatine Montreal's Laval University, has made it his ngo to proceed to enactment the 600 students he's presently teaching crossed 3 courses. 

The work, helium says, is "driven much by idiosyncratic and corporate work than by organization operation oregon requirements." 

And it's often done without due compensation — Junina says helium presently makes astir 30 per cent of what helium utilized to, and outgo tin beryllium irregular.       

"Many of america proceed to thatch and enactment students not due to the fact that we are compensated properly, but due to the fact that we judge that acquisition indispensable proceed and we indispensable enactment students adjacent during wartime." 

Alwan is grateful for the accidental to proceed her studies, but is often overwhelmed by fearfulness and uncertainty and says what she and others person endured is thing "no pupil should spell through."

She says entree to the net is the biggest situation she's faced successful continuing her education. 

"The net was either excessively anemic oregon wholly chopped off," she said, noting that during one displacement, she had to locomotion 45 minutes to find a good, unchangeable signal. 

"And it wasn't adjacent an existent place. You had to basal successful the mediate of the thoroughfare and effort to bash your thing." 

Though she's present backmost astatine home, Alwan normally studies astatine a cafe adjacent their gathering due to the fact that it has amended internet. But past Friday, aft a week of dense bombing, she decided it would beryllium safer to enactment from home. 

Before she tin commencement her courses for the day, she needs to log connected to the internet. To bash this, she goes to the model successful her country wherever the awesome is stronger. There, she uses her telephone to scan a QR codification that loads an app and gives her a fig to enter. This strategy allows her to person a much unchangeable connection.

Once connected, she hits play connected a dependable enactment from Junina. It's 1 of respective messages that volition marque up the day's lesson.  

Lessons by dependable message 

The prof says the warfare has massively changed his life. 

"Now, alternatively of coming to your university, your classroom, gathering your students successful person, my regular daily has changed." 

Junina present teaches mostly from home, sitting astatine a table with his laptop and his textbook. He keeps his Whatsapp and Telegram accounts unfastened connected his telephone wherever helium records lectures. Sometimes, his recordings seizure the sounds of drones buzzing successful the distance, a changeless reminder of the war. 

When he's done recording, helium compresses the record truthful it's easier to download and sends the dependable enactment to his students. He past pulls up different acquisition connected his laptop.

Because energy isn't ever reliable, erstwhile it comes clip to complaint his devices, he makes his mode to an net cafe, walking past endless mounds of rubble. In the ruins of what were erstwhile residential buildings, businesses and universities, plants grow through cinder blocks. 

When Junina arrives astatine the cafe, a large, unfastened abstraction with rows of desks occupied by radical wearing headphones, helium takes a spot and pulls up his laptop to proceed his work. 

Sometimes, his students conscionable him present due to the fact that they request a unchangeable net transportation to complete exams and quizzes sent via timed links.

Junina feels the warfare has forced universities to grow online learning and accommodate to the existent situation, but helium thinks it's thing that volition yet payment them.  

"I ideate a aboriginal wherever online platforms proceed for immoderate clip to supplement face-to-face education," he said. "Because adjacent if the warfare ends oregon stops tomorrow, I don't deliberation students volition beryllium acceptable to resume in-person acquisition immediately."

In the meantime, determination are plentifulness of students similar Alwan, who are dedicated to their studies. 

She remains undeterred by her circumstances and says she plans to implicit her studies and use for a assistance to survey abroad. 

"My lone information is that I deliberation acquisition is simply a beardown instrumentality and limb against this occupation."