By Tala Youssef | Staff Writer
The Lebanese education system was historically well-regarded for its high standards. The country’s schools moved away from being dominated by different religions after the 1989 Taif Agreement, with a reorganization of the education system.
Before the 2019 crisis hit, 70% of students attended private schools, which is a higher percentage than in most countries. The devaluation of the national currency caused a hike in tuition fees, driving more families to public schools as private ones became unaffordable. Moreover, demand for publicly funded education increased with the country’s influx of Syrian refugees.
This increased demand comes at a time of the economic collapse. The Lebanese government’s high debt levels have caused it to decrease public spending on education. Another result of the crisis is the depreciation of teachers’ salaries. With the exponential inflation, state teachers are now paid unlivable wages, with strikes repetitively breaking out since the crisis. The
government’s unresponsiveness to these basic demands exacerbates the strikes.
The strikes, alongside other destabilizing factors such as the pandemic, the ongoing financial crisis, the August 4th explosion, and the different political crises, have caused students’ loss of time in public schools to add up.
Students in the most affected areas and Syrian refugee students- who attend an afternoon program; are left without education, with some having to repeat a year and others being forced to drop out and work instead. In addition to the lack of human rights given to these students, the Ministry of Education’s failure to accommodate them reinforces their marginalization.
Lebanon’s financial crisis has resulted in the deterioration of the education system and exposed the risks of depending on the private sector. The basic human right of education, the main driver of social mobility, is under threat in Lebanon, with an entire generation’s future at play.