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Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) handed over nearly 600 computers to Palestine refugee students in the Gaza Strip through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Photo: UNRWA

“It is a fitting gift from one of the world’s most technologically-advanced nations, and as we move forward to build on this donation, I hope that we can continue to deepen and develop our relationship with South Korea, as well as deliver quality education to the next generation in Gaza,” said the deputy director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) operations in Gaza, Scott Anderson, in a news release.

Some 220,000 children in grades one through nine are currently taught in 243 UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip. The majority of them suffer from overcrowding and are ‘double shifted,’ where one school building serves two completely different sets of teachers and students.

To be able to meet the needs of children, UNRWA has introduced an interactive learning programme to provide alternative ways for students to learn. The programme uses computer games to teach mathematics and Arabic, with an average of two lessons per day.

According to UNRWA, academic performance – as well as attitudes towards learning – have improved among the students taking part in the programme.

The donation follows an agreement in December between UNRWA and the ROK, under which the latter’s Government, through its International Cooperation Agency, donated $400,000 to UNRWA to upgrade the overall information technology (IT) of schools in Gaza with new computers.