This is the reality of Lebanese education.. 400 words sum up the scene
The Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed website published a new report in which it said that the educational pyramid in Lebanon has returned to stability On its base after months of chaos resulting from the displacement of about one and a half million people from their homes and villages as a result of the Israeli aggression.
The report said that from the beginning, postponing the start of the school year did not succeed in absorbing the resentment sparked by the decision to raise the value of registration in public schools to the equivalent of fifty US dollars, noting that the value of registration for non-Lebanese is equivalent to one hundred dollars, while tuition fees in private schools are many times that.
He added: The last thing issued by the Minister of Education, Abbas Al-Halabi, before the aggression, was the start of teaching as of October 9, 2023, provided that this is preceded by the issuance of the decision regarding financial compensation and how to disburse it. In the private sector, schools began teaching at the end of August or the beginning of September.
He continued: Quickly, as a result of hundreds of daily air strikes and shelling of all kinds, schools in the public and private sectors in the south, Beirut, the suburb, the Bekaa, the Mountain, and others were closed, and this situation continued until the ceasefire was established, after which teachers and students returned to their classrooms.
He explained that the dilemmas of Lebanese schools, especially the public ones, vary every school season, to the point that the Ministry was forced during the past year to facilitate the courses and questions, and reduce the subjects in the high school exams by 40%, while canceling the intermediate certificate exams (rehearsals).
He stated that during the past years, the crises suffered by Lebanese students varied, from Corona, to the port explosion, and teachers’ strikes under the weight of their collapsed wages, which reached less than fifty dollars a month, in addition to the presence of a high percentage of family heads who are unemployed as a result of the collapse. Economic.
A UNICEF report last June showed that 15% of families stopped educating their children, compared to 10% one year ago, and that one out of ten families was forced to send their children, including those as young as six years old, to the labor market. This choice would lead these young people to complete illiteracy, affect their health and social conditions, and push girls to early marriage.
The United Nations organization appealed to the government of Lebanon to provide funding for education that includes the salaries of teachers and educational staff, and to increase spending on the sector, which has not been achieved so far, given the decline in the government’s ability to impose additional taxes in light of a state of unemployment and stagnation in most sectors. (The New Arab)
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