Education Programme
UNICEF promotes quality and inclusive education for all children in Lebanon, providing evidence-based policy support and programmes. It delivers programmes at scale to improve inclusion, access and learning outcomes, focusing on most vulnerable children
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Challenge
The combined impacts of a devastating socio-economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have caused a rapid deterioration in access to inclusive and quality education and learning in Lebanon. The unprecedented compound crisis has forced many families to prioritize basic needs, such as food and health, over education.
More than 700,000 children are out of school. In addition to learning loss, missing school can lead to mental distress, exposure to violence, and reduced development of social skills. It also puts children at increased risk of being forced into child labour, early marriage or other forms of exploitation. Risks are particularly high for children with disabilities, girls, refugees and the poorest families.
Teachers are struggling to survive on salaries with low values as they have been decimated by the triple digit inflation, while many schools have insufficient fuel, electricity and water. At the same time, the capacity of the public and private schools is being stretched and stressed to a breaking point as children migrate from one system to the other in response to ongoing economic changes.
The impacts of a devastating socio-economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have caused a rapid deterioration in access to inclusive and quality education and learning in Lebanon
In addition, the response to COVID-19 caused massive disturbances to children's education. School closures, largely due to the pandemic, effectively disrupted the education of over 1.2 million school-age children in 2020 and for months on end in 2021. The full impact of the loss of learning opportunities in the acquisition of new knowledge and in the regression of previously acquired still has not yet been measured.
Further exacerbating the crisis, Beirut is still struggling with the aftermath of the massive August 2020 explosions that destroyed homes, businesses, schools and livelihoods. Over 90 schools were affected.
Solutions
Schools are vital to improve the health and mental well-being of children. Investing now in a strong educational system will bring significant dividends in the future by helping build a generation that is well-equipped to contribute to the stability and prosperity of Lebanon.
Lebanon’s current General Education 5-year Plan provides a strong basis for a thorough modernization of the educational system. The plan, launched in late 2021, aims to ensure that the most vulnerable children have access to inclusive and quality learning.
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), with support from UNICEF and donors, also set up the Transition Resilience Education Fund (TREF), designed to ensure that teachers and schools are paid on time and to strengthen governance, transparency, efficiency and learning. Some 12,500 teachers and all 1,237 public schools will benefit from TREF, as part of efforts to ensure that the costs of education do not prevent any child from attending school and that schools are equipped to provide an inclusive and safe environment for learning.
Our key achievements
UNICEF advocates for equitable access to quality education for all children in Lebanon. It subsidizes enrollment fees, including salaries for special contract teachers, school funds and parent council funds ensuring quality education for vulnerable Lebanese and refugee children, provides learning supplies for all students and delivers non-formal education programmes to the most vulnerable children.
UNICEF has supported the adoption of distance or blended learning approaches in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut port explosions
Since 2015, UNICEF has distributed fuel for winterization to more than 750 public schools and rehabilitated more than 217 schools. It also has helped strengthen teachers’ capacity and ensure children with special needs have access to public schools.
UNICEF has supported the adoption of distance or blended learning approaches in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut port explosions. It supports efforts to ensure all children return to learning in safe schools.
UNICEF has supported:
- More than 426,800 vulnerable children annually with access to formal education by covering their school enrolment.
- Almost 20,000 children, including 1,298 children with disabilities, with non-formal learning opportunities in 2021, and more than 27,000 the previous year.
- More than 1,500 children with disabilities in continuing their education in 30 inclusive public am shift schools. During the 2022/2023 academic year, the number of inclusive schools will double.
- Around 400 children with moderate to severe disabilities (40% girls and 60% boys) provided access to the education and rehabilitation services through the partnerships with five specialized service delivery NGOs in 2021.
- On an annual basis, UNICEF has been supporting the families of around 67,000 to 88,000 eligible vulnerable children with cash assistance to cover selected education related costs. This assistance aims to ensure that these children can attend school on a regular basis and complete the school year.
- The provision of textbooks for all Lebanese and non-Lebanese children across public schools from kindergarten to Grade 12.
- The provision of hygiene materials – including masks, face shields, soap, hand sanitizers and bleach – to all schools, as part of the COVID-19 response.