Aisha, photographed above, a school principal and coordinator of the Combatants for Peace women’s group, told our group about the crisis facing educators across the West Bank. Teachers are currently receiving only 60 percent of their salaries, a reality shared by much of the public sector including medical staff.

But the decline did not begin this year. Aisha explained that the education system has struggled since the Covid pandemic, when schools were forced into lockdown without the necessary tools or infrastructure to adapt to remote learning. Many schools never fully recovered. Now, with the school week reduced to three days in some areas due to financial and political pressures, the gaps are widening.

Some schools attempt to compensate through remote learning, but this too comes with serious obstacles. Many families cannot afford computers. Internet access is unreliable. And children who are already living under stress often lack the space and stability needed to focus at home. Entire portions of the curriculum are simply being skipped.

We met Eman and her ten year old son Zaid. Zaid uses some of his unexpected free time to teach himself English. He dreams of studying abroad one day and building an international career. His determination is remarkable. Yet even with his motivation, much of his school material is being left behind because the system cannot keep pace with the disruptions.

Not every child manages to hold on. In the Old City, we met a young boy named Talal who has dropped out of school entirely, and now sells sweets in the souk to help support his family. His story is becoming increasingly common as economic pressure and instability push education further out of reach.