Palestinian education system faces destruction and curriculum changes

A new report by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) documents the systematic destruction of the educational system in the Gaza Strip, a process described as ‘scholasticide’. The report identifies five patterns of destruction: the killing of students and academics, causing bodily and mental harm, destroying facilities, obstructing alternative educational structures, and imposing conditions that prevent access to learning. By July 2026, PCHR documented the deaths of approximately 20,051 students, over 830 teachers and staff, and 194 scholars.

In occupied East Jerusalem, approximately 45,000 Palestinian children are now studying a curriculum developed by Israeli authorities, representing more than a third of Palestinian students in the territory. While Israel justifies this intervention by claiming Palestinian textbooks ‘teach hate’, international humanitarian law and the International Committee of the Red Cross state that an occupying power must facilitate the normal operation of educational institutions and must not replace existing systems with its own curricula.

Concurrently, Save the Children reports that 1.5 million school-aged children across the occupied Palestinian territory are entering a fourth consecutive academic year without access to safe, quality education.