Lacking equipment, but not ambition: Gaza students try to keep up with tech

In central Gaza, small groups of young learners gather around makeshift kits of wires, sensors and a basic programmable circuit board to study robotics and early-warning systems. The Next Gen Team project in Deir el-Balah teaches participants how to integrate sensors into alarm systems, how motors and drive units operate, and gives practical experience with programming using tools such as Arduino controllers. Trainers and students say the exercises could yield life-saving applications in the future, ranging from early detection of gas leaks or fires to systems that help rescuers reach people trapped under rubble. Participants also view the lessons as a way to keep pace with global technological advances despite severe local constraints. Prior to the war, Gaza supported a network of incubators, training programmes and universities that helped innovators transform ideas into prototypes and businesses. Those facilities have been heavily damaged or destroyed during the conflict, leaving equipment scarce and limiting spaces where students and entrepreneurs can experiment and develop projects. The collapse of educational and tech infrastructure has had wide-ranging effects: preliminary estimates from Gaza’s Government Media Office put direct losses to the education sector at about $4 billion, and 17 higher education institutions have been fully or partially destroyed since October 2023. Trainers who remain active stress that a generation of motivated students still exists but needs resources and stable environments to convert talent into tangible projects that could serve Gaza’s communities and economy.