Education in Lebanon threatened by coronavirus, economic crisis, says Save the Children

The coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis in Lebanon risks depriving many students of the right to education, a Save the Children report released today says.

A survey of 137 Lebanese, and Palestinian and Syrian refugees aged 12 to 24 showed 75 per cent of students are struggling with online learning, with that number rising to 80 per cent among girls.

“School has closed. My teachers are now using WhatsApp as an alternative, but we’ve finding it difficult to grasp the material. Our curriculum is hard as it is, let alone having to learn it over the phone”, Sahar, a 17-year-old Lebanese girl, said.

However, while most Lebanese schools have set up distance learning initiatives, with the help of authorities, Syrian and Palestinian refugee respondents said their schools had no provision for online tuition.

According to the report, many said that parents could not afford private tutors to finish their curriculum at home and their education had effectively been suspended.

Meanwhile, 66 per cent of respondents told Save the Children they needed financial support as family members faced job losses. However, 90 per cent said any financial support would primarily go towards buying basic necessities including food and medicine.

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“My sister was dismissed from work, so was my mother. My father, a taxi driver, is not allowed to work or leave the house. We’re spending most, if not all of our time at home, doing nothing,” Sahar said.

In 2019, even before the onset of the coronavirus and economic crises, Save the Children reported more than 70 per cent of refugees in Lebanon already lived under the poverty line.

The organisation predicted school dropout rates were likely to increase as families lose their livelihoods and can no longer afford to buy books or uniforms or pay for transportation.

Save the Children’s Country Director for Lebanon, Jad Sakr, said:

In the most vulnerable communities many childhoods will be cut short with children at increased risk of child labour and early marriage. It will hit the most deprived and most marginalised the hardest.

The report calls upon the Lebanese authorities and international community to roll out social assistance packages for families struggling to make ends meet ender the tough economic circumstances, and to direct support to the education sector.

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