Gaza resumes secondary exams after two-year disruption and extensive damage to schools

Palestinian education authorities have resumed the General Secondary Education Examination, known as the Tawjihi, in the Gaza Strip after approximately two years of disruption, despite extensive damage to educational infrastructure and continuing difficulties caused by the war.

Jamal Youssef, director-general of examinations at the Palestinian Ministry of Education, said the damage to Gaza’s education system had severely disrupted the administration of the Tawjihi exams and affected tens of thousands of students.

Speaking during an interview on the Tallat Sabah program, broadcast by Radio Al-Rabea, Ma’an Satellite Channel and the Ma’an Network, Youssef described the destruction of educational facilities in Gaza as “systematic and near-total.”

He said the ministry and its General Examinations Committee had introduced a series of exceptional measures since the start of the war to allow students to continue their education and complete their secondary-school examinations.

Among the measures was the introduction of a condensed curriculum intended to account for learning losses and the prolonged disruption experienced by students.

Education authorities also introduced electronic examinations for students in the 2024 and 2025 cohorts and for the first examination session of 2026, according to Youssef.

He said the first Tawjihi session of 2026 was held in Gaza at the same time as examinations in other Palestinian governorates, marking the first simultaneous examination session since the war interrupted the normal process approximately two years earlier.

The resumption comes as Gaza’s education system continues to face extensive infrastructure damage, shortages of resources and the displacement of students and teachers.

Palestinian officials have reported that around 90 percent of schools in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed during the Israeli genocide. The extent and categories of damage can vary between assessments, with international agencies distinguishing between schools that have been directly hit, damaged or require major reconstruction.