The British Council said initial reports suggested that 47 government schools are unusable.

Palestinian pupils have lost nearly three weeks of lessons.

Israeli soldiers have twice forced their way into the Palestinian ministry of education in the devastated city of Ramallah, breaking down doors and furniture and destroying records and equipment.

Naim Abu Hommos, acting minister of education, said some staff had been used as human shields. Others were locked in one room and ordered not to move or look at what was happening.

All the doors in the general examination central office were blown open and iron cupboards containing important documents built up over years were exploded.

Computers, television and video sets provided by donor countries and organisations have been seized, with offices left in a mess.

The ministry of education serves one million children, a third of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza.

The World Bank is co-ordinating a damage assessment of Palestinian infrastructure - including water, roads, health, electricity and education. Questionnaires are being sent to schools.

Dr Naim said the ability of the ministry to survive and develop was now under threat.

His comments came as education consultants working for the British Council and the Department for International Development warned that, with half of the Palestinian population under the age of 15, education was a cornerstone of society.

Stephen Sharp, the former chief education officer in Buckinghamshire who has been working with ministry officials, said: “It is the children who are suffering.”

The Israeli Embassy said: “The fact of destruction does not tell us of the circumstances and whether those buildings were being used for the claimed educational purposes or being abused for carrying out armed armed hostilities against Israel.”