Orkney’s schools are on holiday but before they broke for the summer, parents, carers, pupils, and staff were planning for the Autumn session.
Reassuring transitional arrangements were in place as children move from Nursery to Primary, from Primary to Secondary, and for older students a move either into employment or taking their studies further.
Most pupils will know who their teacher is going to be and where their school is if they are moving to a new one.
The situation for children in Gaza is a world away from this, and yet, despite the rubble and devastation around them, they too are looking forward to the next session. Education is deeply important to Palestinians and they have kept schooling going even when schools have been blown apart and teachers killed.
UNICEF has a ‘Back to Learning’ response to the devastation of schools in Gaza. It has enabled 195,000 children to access safe learning. Children have a right to an education but 97.5 per cent of schools have been damaged or destroyed. Temporary Learning Spaces were set up but over 637,000 children have been left without a place to go to in which to learn.
Learning and Healing are interlinked. Children in Gaza are living with unimaginable trauma – education and learning with others is an essential part of coping with the horrendous horrors they have seen. ‘Play to Heal’ is one of the programmes being run by UNICEF.
In its report UNICEF state:
2,883 girls and 2,202 boys in grades 6 to 9 developed animations and drama productions over a period of 24 workshops. One parent stated, “Before the sessions, I had not heard my son speak and express his dreams and hopes”.
The temporary structures in which schooling takes place were badly affected by strong winds and rain in the winter. This further disrupted lessons and opportunities to play together for children in a safe space.
Adapting to the continuing horrific conditions in Gaza, UNICEF also distributed 2,524 school-in-a-carton kits and 417 Recreational kits, benefiting 103,366 children; and delivered recreational kits, reaching 85,521 families to support learning and playing. 156 Early Childhood kits were distributed to support 9,740 kindergarten and Grade 1 children.
Last Saturday, after their regular vigil, peace campaigners in Orkney flew kites in solidarity with the children of the Burin Kite Festival.
Every year the residents of the town of Burin in the illegally occupied West Bank come together to make and fly kites. It’s a joyful festival of hope which Orkney’s islanders were pleased to join with.
The Orkney vigil will again take place today, Saturday 18 July, between 1 and 2pm, on the Kirk Green, Broad Street Kirkwall. All are welcome to join with them who wish to see a permanent ceasefire and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
People in Orkney also support ‘Hope and Play’.
Hope and Play is a UK charity dedicated to helping add hope and play to the lives of Palestinian children who are denied these most basic rights. We do this by building spaces to play, offering learning opportunities and providing trauma support to children.
We operate in the villages and refugee camps under occupation in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian West Bank, and in Lebanon.
Just like our children and students in Orkney, children and students in Gaza have had exams which took place from 27 June to 12 July. Teachers are self- learning using digital tools developed by UNRWA . Teacher training, as we think of it, has had to adapt to an educational infrastructure which has been systematically destroyed by the Israeli military. Digital connectivity is a major problem where so much devastation has occurred.
As our children in Orkney enjoy their summer break, or for older students await exam results – they do so with all the hopes and some anxiety of the school year ahead. Children and young people in Gaza have the same rights as those in Orkney, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) :
- Children have the right to an education (Article 28)
- A child’s education should develop their interests and talents and their respect for other people and our environment (Article 29)
- Children have the right to relax, play and take part in cultural activities (Article 31)
The Orkney News has documented the vigils in Orkney since they began in October 2023. Here is the latest video:
Fiona Grahame