Nour Ezzeddine said bluntly: The private school where she works is privileged. But before the start of the school year, the task of the education consultant from an elite high school near Tyre in southern Lebanon was to organize the exchange of textbooks, a practice that was extremely rare in the country before the financial crisis began. Summer of 2019. Without such barter transactions, the textbook donated by the French Embassy reinforces this. “Many families will not have access to these books”, Noor added. As the economic collapse accelerates, the depreciation of the pound sterling is weakening the morale of teachers. Teachers’ salaries are almost worthless. The difficulties families endure every day affect students’ attention. “We cannot give up education, this is Lebanon’s main force”, Urge the education consultant that he will not escape the moment of frustration.
For a long time, education has been the pride of the Cedar country, and its population enjoys the reputation of being the most educated in the Arab world. The quality of the courses offered and the emphasis on the use of multiple languages have provided generations of Lebanese with the keys to further study abroad or to obtain high-paying jobs. However, due to educational and economic reasons, the education system has been weakened for more than a decade. The current disaster has exacerbated these shortcomings. “Years of crises, political and social unrest, and recent developments in Lebanon have caused the education sector to become largely inefficient and unfair. It only provides low levels of learning and skills.”, Pointed out that serious, the World Bank in June.
The school year is considered to be a critical year. After two years of teaching, the instability following the October 2019 popular uprising and the Covid-19 pandemic is very disturbing. In 2020, most students only attended face-to-face schools for a few weeks. Only a few high-end schools managed to get rid of the fiasco of online courses, and part of the population was unable to access these courses.
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Historically, private schools, usually religious schools, have always enjoyed a high reputation. They enrolled more than two-thirds of students in 2018. Traditionally, many children complete their entire courses in the same school, from elementary school to bachelor’s degree. But these institutions are now facing the resignation of teachers (nearly 10% have left the private sector under the influence of the crisis), as well as the difficulties of parents, unable to pay tuition, and sometimes forced to put their children into trouble for the public.
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