The United Nations expressed deep concerns that Lebanon’s education sector is facing an emergency amid the economical collapse.
The UN told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the country is struggling with an education “emergency,” since the multi-faceted crisis is affecting both teachers and students.
Maysoun Chehab of the UN Education and Culture body (UNESCO) told the media agency that “we are now in an emergency. Education in Lebanon is in crisis because the country is living in crisis.”
“Schools do not have enough funds to operate as they should, teachers do not have sufficient salaries to live in prosperity, students do not have transportation means due to high fuel prices,” Chehab stressed, adding that, “this is all affecting the quality of education.”
However, as reported by AFP, the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania Giannini, expressed optimism based on that the international community will keep assisting educational bodies in Lebanon.
“I am also confident Lebanon will not be left behind in the bigger picture of crises in the world,” Giannini said.
On Monday, UNESCO announced the completion of its rehabilitation project of 280 educational institutions that were damaged by the Beirut Blast, which, according to the institution, also destroyed the education of more than 85,000 young people.
Since 2019, the daily lives of all Lebanese people have turned upside down, with the Lebanese middle-class extinguishing with the rise in poverty. Many children left school to help their parents with the family’s daily bread.
Severe and long power cuts and the ever-increasing fuel prices have also impacted the Lebanese children’s education as they can not study at home or go to school.
According to “Searching for Hope”, a recent study by UNICEF, 4 out of 10 of the youth in Lebanon have reduced spending on education to be able to buy life necessities.
The study also found that 3 out of 10 have stopped their education altogether. The report cited the Youth-Focused Rapid Assessment conducted in September 2021 that indicated that 31% of young people are not getting any education or training.
“The enrolment in educational institutions dropped from 60% in 2020-2021 to 43% in the current academic year,” said UNICEF.
