The Lebanese Education Sector Revisited Part 1 - Lebanese Schools: getting to the root of the problem

Analysis by Albert Geokgeuzian, Staff Writer and Maria Wehbe, Staff Writer

January 24th, 2021

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, as said by non-other than Nelson Mandela. 

Yet, why should the educational system be thought about when there is so much turmoil and chaos in the country already? 

Well, education is an important tool because it renders life peaceful and helps human beings become tolerant and it gives the potential of becoming a better person. 

In the case of Lebanon, the educational system is flawed and does not function at its highest capacity, and this should no longer be tolerated. 

Lebanon is facing major issues and the case of the educational system should no longer be one of them. In order to make a difference in the country, changing the educational system must be the first step. These students are the leaders of tomorrow and they should be provided with high-quality education in order for them to contribute to the greater good, which is the well-being of the country.

When looking at the case of Lebanon, it is evident that education is one of the helping tools to dig out the country of its’ rabbit hole, and thus leading to a societal change. 

First, the problems found within Lebanese schools are going to be tackled in depth in order to get to the root of the problem.

Social Justice refers to equal distribution of wealth and opportunities within a society. One main concern is that when schools are not up to the standard and do not provide the highest quality education that they could be providing, they are putting society at risk of losing its social justice.

How so? The first concern that comes to mind is the disparity found between public and private schools, in every single regard. 

In most countries, public schools are widely popular. For example, in Finland, less than 0.8% of schools are private. However, this isn’t the case in Lebanon. In fact, in the academic year 2014-2015, 41.6% of schools were private, and it is important to note that this number has increased by circa 48% since 1994 .Education should be a right, and not a privilege. 

The mediocre state of public schools is one of the major causes of the injustice embedded within society. It is a fact that private and public schools are indicators of students’ socioeconomic classes, and this determines the quality of education that they receive. The state of the Lebanese public schools is disastrous. This is worrisome as these students are missing out on so much: they do not have access to the technological equipment needed amidst this pandemic. Even before COVID-19, these students weren’t at ease due to the trembling state of the school buildings, the lack of material and the shortage of equipment and mainly the lack of proper infrastructure. 

Depending on whether the school is public or private, many aspects change. First, the textbooks used are not the same in both institutions. Public schools can only afford to use locally-produced textbooks due to the lack of funds, and so they are written in a very hasty way, yet private schools have the privilege of choosing their textbooks from a wide international selection. The only condition is for them to be in line with the objectives set by the Ministry of Education and it is mandatory to use the same unified civics and Lebanese history textbooks as those used in Public Schools.

These are of the various and extensive problems that the sector of Lebanese public schools face. After The Phoenix Daily consulted with Dr. Fadia Hoteit, a professor at the Lebanese University, Hoteit made it clear that  “The problems of public schools are the lack of supervision and control over them and the use of non-specialized contract teachers.” 

In fact, according to the RACE II Fact Sheet, issued back in September 2019 and found on the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Website, 586 public schools were owned (47%), 505 schools were rented (40%) and 161 schools were donated (13%), and this has been deducted by a physical assessment of public schools during the academic year 2018-2019. Out of the total 1252 public schools that academic year, 328 schools had bad building conditions, 440 schools had acceptable building conditions and 468 schools had good building conditions.

What is interesting here is that mostly the public schools that were owned were the ones having the greatest number of good building conditions, yet, that wasn’t the case with the schools that were rented. In other words, this means that the public schools that were owned were able to render the infrastructure of their premises better than those that were rented, and this is problematic due to the lack of funds. 

And so, this is where the government should come in and try to render the situation a bit better. “I believe that the government should play a central role in regard to education, because it is in the forefront and also, it is a public service and should not be for profit.”, as Dr. Hoteit explained. 

This is a major issue that is contributing to the disparity found between one school and the other. Public schools are in need of proper funding, because this issue contributes to the lack of infrastructure and material needed. In return, this problem leaves little room for prosperity and expansion, and this is not an issue for private schools. The public sector suffers because it cannot provide students with as much as they need, and that is why the government should intervene in this regard. 

As well, another fundamental concern is the training and credentials of teachers, which is very much disregarded as critical elements in the teaching process most of the time. Throughout the academic year 2013-2014, the teachers in public schools that had a teaching diploma represented only 19.3% of all teachers and those having a bachelor’s degree represented 51.1%.

It is important to distinguish between a degree and a teaching diploma: certainly, all teachers are very knowledgeable and they have so much to give to their students, however teaching diplomas are necessary because they reinforce the importance of proper teaching methods in order to use the information that they have in efficient ways and to properly respond to students’ needs. 

**Sources are found in the endnote

As the above table shows, the top ranked universities in Lebanon have a maximum of 30 credits needed for a Teaching Diploma and that is quite worrisome. The teachers entering the work force are in need of a more in-depth form of training and a lot of them start their jobs lacking main skills needed to help their students benefit as much as possible, as they are the first ones to be affected by this.

It is also worrying that the current curriculum is extremely outdated. The one that is currently implemented has not been modified since 1997 and this curriculum does not answer to the students’ needs: “it lacks a life-skill base, a gender lens and is not as learner-centered as industry standards require.” Rather, teacher-centeredness is the most common method within the current curriculum. As well, standardized tests are a major issue as they shift students towards a more grade-oriented attitude, fail in helping students develop higher-level thinking skills and also demotivate students when they do not reach their desired outcome. 

The way the educational system functions and operates leaves a lot of students at a disadvantage. There is no unity in the educational system, with a lot of differentiation found between schools, especially between the public and private sector. Some major differences that immediately come to mind are, but not limited to the language of instruction, the material needed, the nature of the curriculum, whether it is a subject-matter or integrated curriculum, whether the school implements automatic promotion or retention, etc.

What is also troublesome in our country is the minimum wage of the average school teacher which also differs between the public and private sector. Reportedly, the average monthly salary of any job in Lebanon is at an estimate $2100, yet the average monthly salary of an individual within the teaching profession is around $900. The average monthly salary also depends on the subject you teach. In 2013, the highest-paid teachers were the chemistry teachers with $860 a month and the lowest paid teachers were the computer teachers with $500 a month.

What clearly strikes through here is the big difference in minimum wage for teachers of public and private schools, where those that work for the public sector are at a disadvantage and are not being paid equally. This is a very big problem, especially considering the amount of work they do. Teachers are not always given the freedom to conduct the lessons and manage their classrooms as they please because of the rules implemented in the school and the curriculum as a whole as well, and this is problematic as teachers lack the freedom of amending teaching practices and lessons to respond to students’ individual needs; which should not be the case.

Evidently, these are major problems embedded in the Lebanese schools system, but they are certainly not the only ones. These problems have been residing for years, and unfortunately, the educational sector is not improving. 

These problems need to be addressed and can no longer be stretched as the educational system is on the verge of collapse and can no longer withstand all of this chaos. They must be immediately addressed before the damage is irreparable, and the students would be the first ones to pay the price. 

**

AUB - 21

USEK - 24

LU - 3 year

UOB - 21

USJ - 30

BAU - 20

LAU - 21

LIU - 24

NDU - 21