According to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, the illiteracy rate in Gaza and the West Bank for persons aged 15 years and over was 4.7% in 2011; this is an average of 4.5% in Gaza and 4.9% in the West Bank. Illiteracy rates have been dropping since 1995, signaling an improvement in both the standard of living, and governmental support among other factors. In fact, literacy rates in the Palestinian Territories are among the highest in the world.

However, these percentages are not indicative of a successful education system. Being literate neither guarantees the completion of basic and higher education nor the quality of education. Compared to security, funds allocated to the education sector remain embarrassingly low. Of the $890 million Hamas-prepared Gaza budget for 2013, only 10% is expected to be invested in education compared to 30% in security.

The Palestinian education system relies heavily on traditional means of teaching where students are silent receivers. In line with worldwide trends, sharing the learning experience with a wider audience using social-networking websites, technology and the internet have become an imperative. But Internet-empowered technology and computer systems are hardly employed in any of Gaza's schools. The internet continues to be stressed as a source of distraction rather than a platform to develop a broader outlook on all kinds of subjects.

Although technology is a basic subject at public and private schools alike, it continues to be presented in theoretical terms. The topics discussed in this subject range from information systems to engineering, and even carpentry. Naturally, these topics stress practical applications and experiments, but students do nothing beyond memorizing the theories so as to answer the questions in the exam.