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SURVIVAL

Classrooms Turned Shelter: The Cost of

School in Khan Younis, photo by

Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhual/IANS

War transforms schools from learning spaces into shelters for the forcibly displaced. The attacks on civilians and infrastructure, especially schools, set off a domino effect that disrupts the academic year, undermines educational foundations, and leaves psychological scars on the young learners. In Khan Younis, classrooms have become survival spaces, with families sharing the school grounds, seeking refuge from destruction and genocide.

The Slow Factory defines scholasticide as the deliberate destruction or suppression of educational systems.

It is “...closely tied to cultural erasure because it systematically dismantles educational systems that preserve and transmit cultural knowledge, traditions, and identities. When education is suppressed or eliminated entire communities risk losing their history, language, and values leading to a profound disconnect from their heritage.”

This reality weighs heavily on children like Tala Swedan, a 10 year old girl in Khan Younis, who shared with Al Jazeera, “We had normal classrooms, chairs, and benches. Then the war started and reduced everything to ruins.”

The total literacy rate in Palestine is around 97.8%

Youth literacy rate in Palestine (ages 15-24) was around 98.2%

The youth literacy rate in Lebanon is around 99%

Lebanon’s adult literacy rate is around 95.30%

Literacy Rate, The Slow Factory

Learning Against the Odds: Temporary Learning Spaces

Despite dire conditions, educators and volunteers continue teaching in makeshift settings known as Temporary Learning Spaces, bringing a sense of stability and hope admist the genocide. With community support, teachers transform open spaces into classrooms, adapting the curriculum to fit limited resources and wartime restrictions. At times, aid organizations step in, providing critical materials when possible, reinforcing these learning environments. These temporary structures offer some hope and routine.

Israa Abu Mustapha, a teacher in Khan Younis, set up a tent school in the ruins of a building where she used to live and teach. In an interview with Al Jazeera, she said

“We’re trying to ease the mental suffering the children are going through because of the war. They witness death and destruction. Above all many of these children are orphaned, some lost their fathers, others lost their mothers. We’re doing our best to provide what they’ve been deprived of, I consider them as my own children.”

“We’re trying to meet all their needs, from regular education to mental health care, even emotional support...”

Inside Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs): Learning and Healing

With limited materials and space, lessons in these makeshift classrooms become more resourceful, focus on essential skills and hands-on activities that don’t require extensive supplies. Teachers and volunteers play a dual role as educators and caregivers, often supporting students in processing trauma and loss. Many lessons are tailored to promote emotional resilience, incorporating activities that allow children to connect with each other and feel supported. Some TLSs prioritize mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), offering activities aimed at emotional healing, while others emphasize core education such as literacy and numeracy. These foundational skills (reading, writing, and basic math) are essential for children’s future development.

TLSs vary in locations, taking place

in tents, shelters, open space, or even recreational centers. The disruption of education has profound consequences. For younger children, it threatens cognitive, social, and emotional development. As UNICEF notes, “Parents are reporting significant mental health and psychosocial impacts among children.” For older children, prolonged disruptions increase the risks of exploitation and child labor, putting them at risk of dropping out of school permanently.

Israa Abu Mustapha teaching in a makeshift classroom, Al Jazeera

Schools and TLSs in Khan Younis

Deir El Balah

NUSEIRAT D E I R

EL-BUREIJ

EL-MAGHAZI

Targeting Schools: Architecture as a Tool and Witness of Violence

5 Oct. 2023

Al Shouka Secondary Girls School/Rafah, Education Cluster

6

July 2024

Targeting cities and infrastructure, such as schools that holds significant cultural and social value is a strategy employed to break down resistance, linking architecture directly to violence. Schools can be active participants in this violence, serving as tools, targets, or witnesses to the trauma unfolding around them. Many schools have been damaged or destroyed during war, transforming them from places of learning into sites of trauma. Buildings are often chosen as symbols or instruments of conflict, leading to the devastation of the physical environment and the cultural and social fabric of communities (Kruze 177, 185-190). While schools are traditionally seen as symbols of education and hope, they can also attract attacks aimed at dismantling social cohesion and destabilizing communities. Turning education into a symbol of resistance.

Architecture serves as a witness to violence, acting as physical evidence of the impact of conflict. Structures

References

and spaces bear witness to the events that occur within and around them, embodying the memories and narratives of violence experienced by communities. They stand as physical reminders of the trauma endured (Hersche 130).

Experiencing violence in educational spaces can leave lasting psychological scars on students and educators. The trauma associated with these experiences necessitates a focus not only on rebuilding the physical structure of schools but also on restoring the sense of safety and community that they represent.

In the context of war or violence, schools are both targeted and serve as witnesses to the struggles faced by students and communities. Addressing this reality is essential for creating effective recovery strategies that prioritize both rebuilding educational infrastructure and fostering healing.

“45,000 First Graders Unable to Start the New School Year in the Gaza Strip.” UNICEF, 9 Sept. 2024, www.unicef.org/mena/press-releases/45000-firstgraders-unable-start-new-school-year-gaza-strip-unicef. BeirutUrbanLab. “Beirut Urban Lab - Tracking the Urbicide in Gaza.” @BeirutUrbanLab, beiruturbanlab.com/en/Details/1977/tracking-the-urbicide-in-gaza. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.

Haddad, Ellie. “Architectural as Exquisite Violence.” Architecture and Violence, edited by Bechir Kenzari, Actar, 2011, pp. 88. Hersche, Andrew. “From Target to Witness: Architecture, Satellite Surveillance, Human Rights.” Architecture and Violence, edited by Bechir Kenzari, Actar 2011, pp. 130, 141. “Preliminary School Damage Assessment_july2024_final.PDF: Powered by Box.” Box, educationcluster.app.box.com/s/231cnzxfyeqz4ftipms3wbf90oo72uts. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.

YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTb1_bEsS5E&t=34s. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.