Feature: Displaced Gaza students in Cairo find hope in online classrooms

by Ahmed Shafiq

CAIRO, April 30 (Xinhua) -- In a dimly lit apartment in Cairo's Nasr City district, the faces of Ghazal Moataz, 15, and her sister Saba, 11, were illuminated by the soft glow of their phones - a portal into a virtual classroom over 400 kilometers away in the West Bank.

Though far from their home in Gaza, the girls are among thousands of Palestinian students continuing their education through an online platform launched by the Palestinian Ministry of Education, aimed at those displaced by the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

The Moataz family fled Gaza in March 2024, just weeks before Israeli forces closed the Rafah border crossing. They left behind a family home and their father's business, joining more than 100,000 Palestinians who have sought refuge in Egypt since the war erupted in October 2023, according to the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo.

"Without residency documents, we couldn't enroll our daughters in Egyptian schools," said their mother, Dalia Ahmed. "It felt like their education was slipping away."

That changed when a joint initiative between the Palestinian Ministry of Education in Ramallah and the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo offered displaced children access to a digital curriculum.

The program, which began during the first year of the war, enrolled 10,000 students and has now expanded to reach approximately 23,000, said Iyad Aboul-Hannoud, head of academic and research affairs at the embassy.

For Ghazal, who dreams of becoming a pediatrician, the program has been a welcome opportunity.

"I never miss a class," she said. "Even with power cuts or internet issues, I stay focused. It keeps my dream alive."

Her younger sister, Saba, is grateful but nostalgic. "The lessons are the same, but I miss my desk in Gaza. I miss the laughter of my classmates," she said.

The program's teachers, based in the West Bank, volunteer after hours to deliver lessons online, bridging a gap created by conflict and displacement.

"The first year was tough. Thousands of students couldn't enroll," Aboul-Hannoud said. "But the Ministry launched remedial programs to help them catch up. We are committed to continuing until Gaza's education system is fully restored."

For the Moataz family, the digital classroom offers more than lessons - it's a semblance of stability. "This initiative has been a lifeline," said the two girls' mother. "The war took everything. We can't let it take our children's future too." ■