No Connection, No Electricity: Gaza Students' Struggle with E-Exams

High school seniors in the Gaza Strip are facing massive obstacles right at the beginning of the electronic exam process. Candidates like İman and thousands of other young students must solve basic infrastructure problems such as internet connection, electricity, and technical failures before they can even prepare for the exam. These striking experiences, broadcasted by the Cizre Haber channel, reveal how vulnerable the education systems in the region are. In these lands where war and siege conditions prevail, education, which has become the hope of the masses, is becoming increasingly inaccessible. Students are forced to be tested not only on their academic knowledge but also on their struggle to survive and communicate.

Because the devastating conflicts and the ongoing blockade in the region have completely paralyzed normal educational life, exams can no longer be held using traditional methods. Officials and educational institutions have had to resort to online and electronic exam systems as a solution to current challenges. However, considering Gaza's almost non-existent technological infrastructure, this transition creates a great sense of irony and helplessness. Students are forced to wage a weeks-long physical and mental struggle just to sit at a computer and focus on their exams. Internet outages and prolonged power cuts are making the reliability and feasibility of these digital exams more difficult with each passing day.

The distances a student in Gaza must travel and the effort they must expend to secure an internet connection in their home or temporary shelter are of dramatically tragic proportions. Many young people are forced to wander for hours among ruins or at high points to catch weak and irregular mobile data signals. The sudden loss of connection or receiving 'connection not working' errors at critical moments during the exam brings the stress of a year's worth of effort potentially going to waste. These technical glitches have ceased to be mere nuisances and have transformed into formidable barriers that directly threaten the academic futures of students. Students trying to continue their education under such harsh and grueling conditions are pushed into an invisible and exhausting war every day.

Electrical energy, the most fundamental requirement for the feasibility of electronic exams, has become almost a luxury in Gaza. The inadequate operation of the region's power plants and the constant prevention of fuel supply lead to power cuts lasting for hours or even days, paralyzing people's lives in every sense. Students try to access rarely available generators or utilize small solar panels to charge the devices they will use for the exams. Chasing the short periods when electricity is available, students jeopardize their physical health and live with a constant feeling of uncertainty and anxiety. The fact that a large portion of daily hours is spent just trying to meet basic needs leaves almost no time to study and mentally prepare for exams.

Beyond all these physical, infrastructural, and technical challenges, the heavy psychological toll borne by the students in Gaza can never be ignored. Traumatic war conditions, the fear of losing loved ones, the destruction of homes, and living in constant insecurity severely wear down young minds. In addition to this, physically accessing study materials, books, or computers constitutes a gigantic hurdle under the devastation of war zones. For these students, education is seen not merely as obtaining a grade or a diploma, but as the only way to keep their dreams and hopes alive under siege and their desire to lead a normal life. It is imperative that the international community and Human Rights organizations urgently draw attention to this educational and humanitarian crisis to prevent the annihilation of Gaza's young generation.