Institutionally denied learning
Lebanon is amid a serious financial crisis. Our previous blog explained how the exchange rate in Lebanon has caused many families to see their incomes hugely shrink. This, along with inflation, means most families are struggling to afford the bare essentials, such as rice and bread, let alone pay for their rent, electricity and healthcare bills. Unfortunately, for many families living in Lebanon, the financial struggle further extends to education.
Prior to the crisis, more than 60% of children in Lebanon attended private schools. The fees ranged from $3,000 upwards and largely did not include uniforms and books. However, fees have risen since, which has meant that for many families paying private school fees is no longer affordable.
The public education sector is severely underfunded, and it too has been hit hard by the financial crisis. There is no longer enough fuel to run school buses and many schools struggle to heat classrooms in the cold winter months. The price of school supplies has gone through the roof; where the ink for a whiteboard marker used to cost 2,000 LL, it now costs 20,000 LL. On top of this, as many as 15% of teachers who used to work in public schools have moved abroad to look for work. All these factors contribute to extreme pressure on the public education system, which has had a severe knock-on effect for Syrian refugees.
As the financial crisis has worsened, the Lebanese government has increasingly prioritized the access to education of Lebanese children over Syrian children. In the academic year 2021-2022, the enrollment target for Syrian children was only 200,000 out of 715,000 eligible school age children.
Syrian children continue to face discrimination and barriers to receiving an education in Lebanon. They are not automatically enrolled in school programs and many rely on humanitarian organizations, such as 26 Letters, to help both financially and administratively with the enrollment process. Many schools operate shift systems to accommodate more students and Syrian children are much more likely to have to attend the second shift. On top of this, Syrian children must wait for Lebanese children to enroll first and only after that can they take any unfilled places.
Many Syrian families have been told that their children will not be allowed to register at the same schools next year.
Burdens continue to appear: some primary schools are now demanding extra paperwork, unattainable to many, which is not a requirement set out by the Ministry of Education. Moreover, they are subject to arbitrary entry exams, mostly in English, that do not consider the recent educational disruptions due to the crisis and COVID-19 pandemic. This situation is in breach of international regulations, which Lebanon has agreed to, and demonstrates the existence of severe institutionalized discrimination.
The prospects for this academic year are getting worse and the situation of all Syrian refugees living in Lebanon is more precarious than ever, as the Lebanese government has now put in place a more concrete plan to carry out fifteen thousand deportations of Syrians each month.
This is why the work that 26 Letters does is so vital.
As it becomes increasingly hard for Syrian children to register for public schools, 26 Letters is seeking to pay the $150 dollar registration fee for 100 students to access semi-private schools and support them along the way. Any donation you can you give us to bring us a step closer to our $15 000 goal is greatly appreciated.
