More than 90,000 students have moved since 2019 to public education

The exodus of the children of the “new poor” to public schools in Lebanon

• “Ruwad” transferred last year to an official secondary school to complete his last year before university.

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  AFP

• Rola Murad with her son Rayan, who intends to enroll him in a public school, like his brother, after the family's potential declined.

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  AFP

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In light of the decline in their financial ability, Rola Murad and her husband decided to transfer their middle son from a private school to a public school, despite realizing the difference in the level of education between them in Lebanon, but the prolonged economic collapse left them with no other choice.

Thousands of families intend to take the same step, after no sector was left immune from the repercussions of the collapse, including the education sector, which is witnessing an exodus of students from private schools with high fees in general, towards public schools, which many consider that education is of lower quality, especially in the pre-secondary stages. .

"My children have always been special education students, but things have changed a lot," Rola, a day laborer at the Ministry of Finance, told AFP from her home in Beirut. "We can no longer bear this burden," she added.

Before the start of the economic crisis in late 2019, which the World Bank has ranked among the worst in the world since 1850, the family used to pay the equivalent of $9,000, according to the official exchange rate, as school fees for their three children.

But with the deterioration of the value of the lira, which lost more than 90% of its value and the decline in its purchasing power, the family transferred its eldest son (Rowad), last year, to an official secondary school to complete his last year before university.

Rola explains: "We paid 250 thousand Lebanese pounds (170 dollars according to the official exchange rate) as a registration fee for the last academic year (...), while the books were free."

His brother, Ryan, 14, will follow suit, at the end of this month, after the family is no longer able to pay his tuition at the private school.

And 78% of the Lebanese are now living below the poverty line, according to the United Nations, due to the severe economic crisis that began more than two years ago and was exacerbated by the repercussions of the “Covid-19” epidemic and a complex political crisis. Several organizations, including Save the Children, have warned that poverty will constitute a "severe obstacle" to children's access to education, warning of an "educational catastrophe" and the risk of children from the most vulnerable groups dropping out of education permanently.

On August 23, the Ministry of Education announced its intention to open public schools starting from September 27, despite the power outages for long hours a day, and the scarcity of diesel and gasoline, which hinders movement and access to fuel for generators.

Lebanon imposed the closure of schools in March 2020. The distance education system was adopted, whose effectiveness varied between private and public schools.

Forced to adapt and

with the declining value of his monthly income, Sami Makhlouf (55 years old) anticipated starting school last year, by moving from Beirut to his remote village in the Bekaa region (east), where he went to work in the field of agriculture.

He enrolled his four children in the village's public school, saving himself the trouble of paying about $13,000 (according to the official exchange rate) in private school fees.

Makhlouf explains that he found himself "forced to adapt", after "this crisis wiped out the middle class, and we became the new poor."

According to Ministry of Education statistics, since 2019 more than 90,000 students have moved to public schools and secondary schools, including nearly 55,000 last year alone. The ministry expects an increase this year by 14% at the primary level, and 9% at the secondary level.

To face the displacement from private to public education, which includes more than 383,000 students, the authorities are trying to manage the unprecedented crisis by relying on aid and donations from the international community and donors.

Finally, the Minister of Education in the caretaker government, Tariq Al-Majzoub, announced a series of offers, in coordination with donors, dedicated to public schools, which include more than 30% of the total number of students, most notably securing the textbook for free, and installing solar panels in 122 public schools. , to be completed in 80 other schools, to reduce “the burden of providing fuel oil” necessary for heating and lighting.

Director of Guidance and Guidance at the Ministry of Education, Hilda Khoury, told AFP that this reality constitutes a "great challenge", but it is also an "opportunity" to reform the public school.

The end

On the other hand, those in charge of private education fear the worst if the collapse continues, due to the emigration of many teachers and students. After schools closed their doors and some adopted austerity policies to reduce burdens, others were forced to raise their premiums by a rate ranging between 30 and 35%. The network of Catholic schools alone, which includes 321 educational institutions and 185,000 students, lost about 9,000 students during the past year, and 14 schools were closed.

"If we do not protect the private sector, the end of high-quality education will come," said Father Boutros Azar, the former Secretary General of Catholic Schools in Lebanon.

The head of the Teachers Syndicate in Private Schools, Rodolphe Abboud, talks about a “bleeding” in the teaching staff with the emigration of “a few thousand teachers” out of about 43,000 full-time and contract teachers, after the value of their salaries, which are paid in Lebanese pounds, decreased.

"We have never seen a similar situation before," Lama al-Taweel, head of the Union of Parents Committees in Private Schools, told AFP, adding, "Even education, the pillar of our society, is collapsing."

Several organizations, including Save the Children, have warned that poverty will constitute a "severe obstacle" to children's access to education, warning of an "educational catastrophe" and the risk of children from the most vulnerable groups dropping out of education permanently.

78% of the Lebanese are now living below the poverty line, according to the United Nations, due to the severe economic crisis that began more than two years ago, exacerbated by the repercussions of the “Covid-19” epidemic, and a complex political crisis.

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