BEIRUT — Lebanon is grappling with an education
“emergency,” a UN official said, as years of economic collapse weigh heavily on
students and teachers.
اضافة اعلان
“We are now in an emergency situation.
Education in Lebanon is in crisis because the country is living in crisis,”
Maysoun Chehab of UNESCO told AFP.
She spoke on the sidelines of an event Monday
celebrating the completion of a $35-million UNESCO project to rehabilitate 280
education centers damaged by a 2020 blast.
The explosion caused by haphazardly stored
fertilizer at the port of Beirut killed more than 200 people, destroyed swathes
of the capital and disrupted the education of at least 85,000 youths.
UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay visited Beirut
weeks later, driving efforts to restore heritage sites and damaged schools.
Students and teachers now have brand new
classrooms, but they are still suffering from the twin effects of an
unprecedented economic crisis in Lebanon and the coronavirus pandemic.
Since late 2019, the Lebanese pound has lost
over 90 percent of its value, pushing most of the population into poverty.
Daily power cuts lasting more than 20 hours
and soaring petrol prices mean many students can neither afford to reach their
classes nor study from home.
“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,” said
Chehab, UNESCO’s education chief for Lebanon.
“This is all affecting the quality of
education.”
The minimum wage once worth $450 is now
valued at $28.
The crisis has forced students to quit school
or university to make ends meet.
Enrollment in educational institutions
slumped from 60 percent last year to 43 percent in the current academic year, a
UNICEF report found.
The cash-strapped state has been unable to
enact substantial reforms, a requirement to access billions of dollars from
international lenders.
Support has been largely limited to
humanitarian aid.
UNESCO Assistant Director-General for
Education Stefania Giannini, however, said she was optimistic the international
community will keep supporting education in Lebanon.
“This is my third visit to the country in a
year and a half,” she said.
“I know the economic crisis is still very much affecting
(the country), but I am also confident Lebanon will not be left behind in the
bigger picture of crises in the world.”
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