MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd August, 2021) As many as 40% of students in the Gaza Strip regularly fail to complete their academic assignments due to ubiquitous power outages, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday.
"40% of the students in Gaza can not complete their academic tasks due to power cuts," ICRC wrote on Twitter.
With schools closed across the Palestinian enclave since a lockdown in August, hundreds of thousands of students have been stuck at home, and learning has moved online. Power cuts, however,� have only worsened matters.
Gaza's sole power plant was shut down in 2017 due to a lack of fuel. This caused a 30% reduction of energy in the enclave. Before this cut, electricity available to Gaza was already less than half of the estimated requirement (210 megawatts provided as opposed to 450 megawatts demand). The recent intense escalation of hostilities in May further damaged infrastructure and caused massive supply shortages through the major power lines, leaving nearly two million residents of the Gaza Strip with only 4 to 5 hours of electricity per day.
