Students in Lebanon catch up on their lost learning through summer school
Summer school program aimed to help students catch up on lost learning and prepare them for the upcoming school year
- Available in:
- English
- العربية
As part of Lebanon’s National Learning Recovery Initiative, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) in partnership with UNICEF and with funding from the European Union, Germany through KfW Development Bank and Switzerland, have launched this year’s edition of summer school, a program aimed to help students catch up on lost learning and prepare them for the upcoming school year.
In a country where learning was disrupted by various challenges during the regular school year, the summer catch-up program aims to bridge the knowledge gaps in Math, Science, English/French, and Arabic in a safe and inclusive learning environment.
"I came to summer school because I wanted to improve and go into the coming school year stronger"
"School is very important for my future, I came to summer school because I wanted to improve and go into the coming school year stronger. We also get to talk about our feelings during social emotional learning." Says Lamis, 15 years old, 8th grade
The program also nurtures children’s wellbeing and social emotional learning through physical education, psychosocial support, and art activities making the learning environment more fun and engaging.
"Summer school helped me a lot, I was struggling with math. I also get to draw the sea, sky, and birds. I love drawing!" Says Inas, 11 years, 4th grade
Financial aid to support student’s transportation was also included to maximize attendance thanks to the support of the European Union.
School closures for almost 3 years have resulted in severe learning loss, creating unprecedented challenges for teachers at all grade levels. Therefore, teacher’s trainings on Learning Recovery pedagogy were also organized focusing on differentiated instruction, formative assessment and social emotional learning in the classroom for teachers from KG to Grade 9.
Because of these trainings, teachers were able to implement innovative approaches in the classroom to keep children engaged in learning.
Mr. Yousef, a math teacher, has now started implementing a friendly competition among his students and he reports an astounding 80% improvement in their performance.
Miss Kawthar, Arabic teacher, praises the training for unveiling new teaching methods and supporting materials that are readily available, making teaching and learning more enjoyable.
Miss Najwa, an English teacher, embraced the learning recovery training as a post-COVID framework to implement new activities in the classroom, engage children with interesting discussions, and use a variety of story books.
Furthermore, with funding from the European Union, UNICEF distributed stationery to all students and learning recovery materials to all participating schools.
In 2023, more than 157,000 children, from Grades 1 to 9, in 588 schools across the country have benefited from the program underscoring the transformative potential of education, even in the most difficult times. These children are now better prepared to the new scholastic year.
