Thousands of high school students forcibly displaced in the Gaza Strip are facing great difficulties in taking their high school final exams, which are critical for university entrance. The lack of electricity and internet infrastructure in tents forces students into a new struggle every morning to take their exams.
An Al Jazeera Mubasher team documented an entire exam day for Iman Awad, a 12th-grade science student. Every morning, Iman leaves her tent with her father, not heading to an exam hall but trying to find a place with electricity and an internet connection.
The exam journey from tent to cafe
Iman and her father navigate narrow paths between adjacent tents to reach a temporary cafe that offers internet service. Her father explained that the tents lack any facilities necessary for studying, forcing them to go out every day so his daughter can take her exams.
Iman said her struggle is not unique, and that the vast majority of students in Gaza contend with the same conditions. Forced to leave their tents due to the lack of internet and privacy, students try to study and focus on exams in crowded and noisy environments.
Technical failures and psychological pressure
The difficulties students face do not end there. Iman recounted that during one exam, the "Wise School" platform connection failed, and during a physics exam, she had great difficulty uploading her answers to the system, managing to submit them at the last minute.
Her father stated that connection drops and repeated upload attempts almost caused the exam to be lost. He noted that being by his daughter's side reduced her stress, but that some other students could not submit their answers and had to wait for the second-term exams.
Life in the tent is an obstacle in itself. Iman mentioned that high temperatures, mosquitoes, lack of privacy, and sleeplessness are part of daily life. Due to power cuts and poor lighting, she sometimes has to study by the light of her mobile phone, and the consecutive exams further increase the psychological pressure.
A cafe as a social initiative
When she arrived at "Ferrero Cafe" for the exam, the place was full of students taking exams or studying. Rushing against time to find an empty spot, staff found a table for Iman just before the exam began.
The cafe's manager, Siraj Abu Hilal, said the establishment is more of a social initiative than a commercial business, aiming to provide internet, electricity, and charging services to students and remote workers—services that have almost completely disappeared in the displaced areas.
Abu Hilal stated that the cafe hosts university and high school students, as well as freelancers and e-commerce workers every day. However, they also struggle with constant problems such as weak internet, high temperatures inside the tent, extreme crowding, and the exam platform slowing down when many students log in simultaneously.
Abu Hilal explained that the idea for this initiative came after he saw his sister's difficulties under the same conditions while preparing for last year's high school exams. He said he uses his engineering knowledge to help students overcome technical problems. Despite limited resources, he and his team try to monitor exam connections, provide internet packages, and respond instantly to interruptions, aiming to minimize student losses caused by technical failures that are not their fault.
Iman's one-day exam journey summarizes the reality of thousands of students in Gaza. The path to success now depends not only on studying but first on finding electricity, then an empty table, and finally a working internet connection until the exam is over.
