麻豆APP

12 December 2007

Gaza Strip, Occupied Palestinian Territory – Najwa Al Smairi, 11, goes to school just metres from Gaza’s heavily guarded perimeter. She is one of the brightest students in her class but it is failure, not violence, that she fears most.

Recently, Najwah has slipped from fourth to fifth in her class, and the studious 11-year-old is concerned. “When I spoke to my sister she told me not to worry, that it was normal but I am still worried,” she says.

Palestinians have long traded on excellence in education as an investment in the future, working their way into the upper echelons of governments and businesses throughout the region. Now, increased political tensions and conflict are having devastating effects on the region, where children make up 56 per cent of the population.