Policy Analysis by Tala Majzoub, Staff Writer

December 15th, 2020

While students are preoccupied with their final examinations, the top two universities in Lebanon announced the adoption of the exchange rate of LL3900 per dollar for the payment of tuition fees. The decisions were made less than one day apart, amidst a deteriorating economy where parents are losing their jobs, are still paid at LL 1515 exchange rate, and are unable to withdraw loans from banks. With this unexpected announcement, the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Lebanese American University (LAU) wreaked nation-wide havoc, leaving students wondering how, or if they will even be able to continue their academic journeys at AUB and LAU. 

As a response to the rising dangers faced by the Lebanese student today, student movements raise the slogans of secularism, democracy, and social justice in the face of the mafia and militia system. Students today are radically challenging the administrative decisions that impede student access to education. 

Students protest the commodification of their education

“Unlike what it claimed, the administration did not consult the student council before making its announcement. The announcement came as a surprise to us when we were promised to discuss this issue in upcoming meetings, we did not expect the decision to be official this early. The student committee clarified that there was no discussion, nor were the representatives part of the decision making” contended Ali Slim, medicine representative of the University Student Faculty Committee (USFC). “The tuition increase will definitely make the academic journey of many medicine students completely inaccessible as the increase in tuition is huge. We're talking about an increase of almost 100M LBP every year. In light of the recent events and the current economic crisis, with many students already struggling to pay off their tuition at the exchange rate of 1515, the increase is murderous.” He continued. 

One day after the decision to increase the tuition was announced, medical students mobilized while maintaining strict social distancing measures, and protested the harsh reality they were faced with. “It was not really hard to organize because all students were furious and willing to participate” assured Majd Jurdi, second year medicine student at AUB. “One day after the decision was made, Karim Hassanieh, our second-year medicine Student Representative Committee representative, created a group with all first, second, third- and fourth-year medical students to recruit and organize, and the day after this we did the protest” he explained. 

A remarkably similar pattern was observed as students met at LAU’s lower gate in response to the devastating decision. “For me, it’s very important to highlight that we were not part of the negotiation process, we were just given the decision as is, and we were told to justify it to the students” asserts Leen El-Harake, member of LAU’s student council. “But obviously as a council, we are very much sensitive and aware to the needs of the students, we chose to oppose the decision completely because that is what’s right and that’s what we had to do at the time” she adds. Leen explains that the point of the first protest was to make a statement, and the students were not really expecting a complete shift in dynamics. However, they were still able to meet with the president who offered clarification on the decision a promise of enough financial aid packages. Leen emphasized that the student council demands financial transparency from the administration before such life-altering decisions are announced, especially amidst an online semester where most of LAU’s expenses have been slashed off.

While LAU’s administration has been giving out generous loans and other forms of financial aid to students to ease the burden, the charitable helping hand is not sustainable in the long run. “With the financial aid package today, we might not see that many dropouts. However, in the coming years, it is going to be obvious that students will not be able to continue their education at these private institutions”, explains Leen. “We were not given any guarantee that this is the final increase in tuition or that this decision will not be replicated in coming years when the rate of the dollar increases further. There is no guarantee for the students that they will continue to pay their tuition at LL 3900 rate, knowing that that rate is already too expensive for any student. We are dealing with a very difficult situation and to fuel the fire, even more, neither the administration nor the government is looking at the students, no one is considering their struggles, the decisions are being taken by these institutes purely for profit basis and not for student demands” she added. 

The distressing decisions taken by the administrations of AUB and LAU were met by a broad range of student reactions ranging from the communist club (Red Oak) at AUB burning trash cans and vandalizing bliss street to medicine students peacefully organizing and raising their demands. While we cannot really tell people how to express their frustration, mobilization against the administration is better with a clear and sustainable vision. Shattered student movement does not hold enough weight, a unified student movement is integral when pushing for change. 

A monopoly on student suffering: Whose fight is this?

The same way Lebanon witnessed political parties riding the wave of the October 17 uprising, many were not taken back by their attempts at politicizing student struggles. Take for example protests announced on June 6, when Kataeb, Ouwet, and Future showed their intention to join protests. The same way going to their thawra protests, under their slogans, only furthers their agenda and gives them more credibility, attending to their calls for protest the injustice of the educational ministry is a slippery slope. On December 13, 2020, Future, Amal, and Lebanese Forces, and the Progressive Socialist Party, called for protests by the Ministry of Education on December 14, 2020. 

While students of all backgrounds, political affiliations, and beliefs have the complete right to lobbying and protesting for their rights, political parties’ attempts at utilizing student suffering for their political gain rings a bell. This exact nepotism and clientelism are social systems we have been persistently fighting for the past thirty years. Leen El-Harke acknowledges the dichotomy “I think students should be involved in the protests regardless of political affiliation. Obviously, I have criticism for the protests being mobilized by political parties because for me, they are the ones responsible for the corruption and the state that we are in today” she argues. “For me, I see the call for protest as separate political parties as something very destructive and it will only make us weaker because eventually when one party (and this is what they are known for doing) offers financial aid or scholarships for certain students they end up sitting aside and not joining our movement when we really need everyone to be participating. On a personal level, I do not think this is healthy and I don’t think this should be happening. To make it an effective movement, we have to involve everyone because everyone is involved, and everyone is hurt by this today. If not today, then in the years to come, there has to be a framework that protects student rates, regardless of their backgrounds and affiliations, we need to see beyond these things for sure” she clarifies.

We have seen this pattern with financial aid and exam ‘previouses’ in previous years, sectarian political parties will stop at nothing to push forward their agendas. The fight is a collective struggle for all students across Lebanon. However, those familiar with the saying “everything is political” realize that behind every protest is a political agenda.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have secular affiliated students fighting for the basic educational rights that the corrupt, sectarian system in Lebanon stripped away from many. On December 12, 2020, Mada Network, a secular youth network coordinated a large conference that took place between several student groups across different universities. The conference hosted a group of different speakers with diverse backgrounds, all advocating for four rigid, comprehensive demands:

1)    Reverse the dollarization decision and imposing a student financial contract to fix the tuition fees.

2)    Real, shared governance and elected student councils in each university.

3)    Support and funding to the Lebanese University

4)    Expressing full solidarity with professors and workers in universities.

Mada Network’s demands addressed the Ministry of Education, private university administrations, and the political ruling class altogether. Mada network also called for “outrage day” for all students on December 19, 2020, to express the rejection of all the political administrative actions taken by the departments of universities. This opposition can be traced back to 2017 when AUB Secular Club students first proposed a student contract and were accordingly deemed as “alarmists” for their wariness. Oppositional, anti-establishment discourse that expresses extended solidarity with marginalized groups and radically challenges administrative decisions is one which aligns with the October 17 uprising’s demands. 

A call for systemic educational change: The case of USEK and LU

The anti-dollarization pressures may be on the forefront in the list of student demands in Lebanon, but these calls are not the only ones. Students today are calling for democracy and secularism within their universities, principles that are almost non-existent in universities across Lebanon today. 

“In USEK, democracy has been absent for 8 years” complains a member from the ‘USEK independents movement’. USEK does not have student council elections. Instead, students who plan on becoming student representatives send an email to the administration. The university administration then filters out the names and chooses the individuals that they regard as most eligible to represent USEK and its values, or dare I say, sectarian political affiliations. “Even if the students do not want that person, they can do nothing about it. In that way, the representative also does not have the students' backup, which means he has no power, and the university can continue to make decisions as it wishes without anyone stopping it” adds the member from independents movement. Political engagement, talk, and mobilization are strictly forbidden in the university. “The Lebanese student learns in school that politics is a taboo, and he's told that political subjects are for "grown" people. Then that student enrolls at a university like USEK, where he learns in the civic engagement course we are obliged to take, the importance of democracy, so in his head, he thinks that democracy is accomplished in USEK. Later, he learns that democracy has been banned in USEK for over 8 years. The student graduates with zero political knowledge and makes the same mistakes in the parliamentary elections that our parents have been making for over 30 years” criticizes the member. 

To make matters even worse, USEK is affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and has blatantly attempted to suppress matters pertaining to the Lebanese uprising and/or secularism. The member of the USEK independents movement explains to The Phoenix Daily how FPM-backed students in USEK are allowed to have a website for exam previouses, where students log in using their USEK E-mail address, and their USEK ID. On the other hand, when USEK independents launched their Instagram account, @usekofficial unapologetically demanded the students remove “USEK” from their name and logo. “Nepotism, hypocrisy and double standards” contends the member. 

On a similar note, an activist from Lebanese University Leen Habhab explains to The Phoenix Daily the “sectarian ideology” that has long burdened the Lebanese University “In university, we are required to take a course of human rights. Article 12 of the constitution states that every Lebanese citizen has the right to general functions, without discrimination, depending on their merit. We study this article yet we do not apply it in our own university. On the other hand, Article 95 states that Muslims and Christians should be granted equal access to primary functions, relating to the parliament and the council of ministers. In the Lebanese University, they apply Article 95 to employment, where they assign professors based on their religion and the area they will be working in, ultimately giving precedence to equal sectarian employment, rather than merit and eligibility.” 

As Leen Habhab lists the student priorities at the Lebanese University, she mentions the importance of enhancing the infrastructure, the outdated learning curricula, and the poor status of online learning. She explains that the budget of the university is deteriorating every year, ultimately affecting the quality and standard of education at the only public university in Lebanon. The activist asserts, however, as a student from LU carefully examine the possibility of forming a secular coalition in university, ridding the university from sectarian nuances remains a top priority for them. Sectarian overtones affect the students and the staff altogether. 

Corrupt, sectarian, anti-democratic measures are being enforced on students in Lebanon, slowly but surely demolishing their right to a proper education. As a result, students are raising the slogans of secularism to fight the deeply entrenched sectarianism in their institutions. The students and the staff are refusing to bear the brunt of years of administerial negligence and are mobilizing collectively to reverse it. If there is one thing we have learned from the past year, it is that there is no point in only seeking superficial accountability – tangible change starts with systemic transformation.