Opinion Analysis by Maria Wehbe and Joelle El Sheikh, Staff Writers 

October 9th, 2020

The Lebanese Educational System is one like no other: schools are divided by sects, religions, social classes, in additional to uncountable numbers other factors, not to forget the disparity between public and private schools. 

Our nation is on the verge of collapse, and so is our educational system. That is to say that even before COVID-19, students and parents were not at ease due to the economic crisis that has been cumulating for the past couple of months as well as the raise of poverty rates. Due to COVID-19, everything shifted: everything was transferred online and that is how E-learning became a very important factor in all of our lives, whether for teachers or students, siblings or parents.

“It was this sudden shift and need to adapt very fast from one mode of teaching and learning (face to face) to another (online). This shift mandated a new way of thinking about teaching and learning, so faculty had to grapple with covering the curriculum in a mode we are not prepared for or used to, neither were the students.”, Dr, Amal BouZeineddine claimed, the Associate Director for the Center for Teaching and Learning, a well-renowned professor who is also the chair of the Practice Teaching Committee in the Department of Education at the American University of Beirut. 

Achools were supposed to open campuses once again on September 28th, but due to the peak in the number of Corona Virus cases per day, it was pushed back until October 12th. This says a lot about how the educational process has been going: the Ministry of Education is very eager to bring the students back because online learning is not going according to plan - but at the same time, students health should be a top priority. This is frustrating for teachers, students and even parents, because no solution would ever be satisfactory: no solution will ever let us go back to the way things were before. 

“All these issues put together pose a big concern, a big question: is quality education being compromised? In my opinion. Yes. Quality education has been compromised.”, claims Dr. BouZeineddine. 

Why is it that the educational system is facing such difficulties when it comes to e-learning? Is it only the case in Lebanon or is this happening all over the world? “No one was ready for the pandemic and its effect on our lives let alone the educational system. Before the pandemic, we were suffering from internet quality and electricity cut offs. With the pandemic, the scandalous weak infrastructure was further exposed. What aggravated the challenges in the educational system is that the infrastructure in Lebanon has unfortunately been compromised: electricity cut offs, weak internet connectivity, problems in availability of computers, laptops, smart phones/tablets in some families, especially when there are two or more of their children at school.”, further explained Dr. Amal. 

With all of this being said, would online learning have been easier and more feasible if the Lebanese educational system was enhanced and ramified?  Yet also, in addition to this, do the other issues present in the country, such as the poverty rates, the economic crisis, the corruption and so much more take such a drastic toll on online learning, rendering it almost completely ineffective? 

Even if enhancement and ramification measures were put into place and were decided upon, it is not possible to put them in place before campuses welcome back students; this means that in-person learning has to commence again before these modifications can be implemented, which might not happen anytime soon due to the extreme conditions that we are facing due to the recent health crisis that has surfaced less than a year ago today. 

“In my case, my biggest concern is field experience for my students/interns. Some schools do not want to add pressure on their teachers, so they decline hosting our interns, other schools do not use a variety of online activities which limits my interns’ field experience, yet a number of schools are accommodating and are up-to-date in online teaching. However, this discrepancy could leave interns with inconsistent exposure to field experience.”, noted Dr. BouZeineddine. This is a concern for future teachers, because they will not be exposed to the experience that is necessary for developing proper teaching practices, and so how will children’s education be strengthened if the teachers aren’t even ready to take on the challenge? 

While professors and teachers face an obvious challenge with e-learning, those on the other end of the zoom call do so as well. Students in Lebanon are not only forced to accommodate to e-learning due to the spread of COVID-19 but are also forced to do so in unimaginable economic, social, and psychological conditions. After the unforgettable and devastating blast that hit Beirut on the 4th of August, the Lebanese people hit the pause button: pause at their homes, their work, their studies, and more specifically, at their lives. It was hard to imagine ever going back to “normal”, let alone going back to school/university. The pandemic became the least of the students’ worries. They worried about having a roof to study under, a laptop to study on, and a healthy mindset that can get them through possibly the worst times of their lives. 

“As someone who is going through their second time at e-learning, I knew from the start it would be as bad as the first experience. As much and as hard as the school works to make it as equally beneficial as traditional learning is to me, it will never even begin to amount to 1/4 of in person school.” Ghida Hashem, a senior at Saint Mary’s Orthodox College, told the Phoenix Daily. 

While students need every ounce of help they can get, the Ministry of Education has been busy fighting institutionalized ministerial corruption, or at least, seemingly so. On the 28th of September, 2020, lawyers Bassem Hamad and Nadim Qawbar filed a lawsuit against Ex-education minister Elias Bou Saab, ex-head of the Centre for Educational Research and Development (CERD) Nada Ouijan, and Lebanese University chief Fouad Ayoub on basis of corruption. 

“Prosecuting the aforementioned individuals over the offenses of embezzling and wasting public funds, bribery, job exploitation, abuse of power, intimidation, and others.”[1]

Caretaker minister of education Tarek Al-Majzoub accused the officials and ex-officials in a live interview on Al-Jadeed TV. Al-Majzoub claimed that hundreds of millions of dollars had vanished from the Ministry, with much of them going as bonuses to some Ministry employees[2]. Ex-education minister Elias Bou Saab was quick to retaliate by stating that he plans on filing yet another lawsuit against Tarek Majzoub and challenged him to a “confrontation”. One of the other officials involved, Nada Ouijan, also accused Majzoub with alleged forgery and violating the law. 

While the public and ex-public officials are too busy filing lawsuits and arguing on live television, students are left with no means of continuing their education properly. Perhaps the most affected students from Lebanon’s reality re those sitting for official exams next summer (Grades 9 and 12). On May 7th, 2020, and after endless conferences, shady comments, and a whole lot of confusion, the (now caretaker) Minister of Education Dr. Tarek Majzoub announced that last year’s [2020] brevet official exams [were] canceled due to the situation. The fate of senior students, applying to universities and deciding their future, was left undecided for another few weeks. The questions surrounding the following year’s [2021] official exams have not been addressed yet; however, given the events that occurred last year, students do not have much hope in the Ministry, nor the system, to cater to their needs. 

“As unfair as it would be to actually sit for the exams I have accepted the fact that we most likely will, no matter the circumstances” Tala Abdallah, a high school senior student, told the Phoenix Daily. Ghida Hashem and Tala Abdallah, just like many Lebanese students, share a common concern: the future. 

“I personally consider sitting for the official exams would be the highest level of unfairness to all students, because we would be tested for material that, no matter how much we try to study for, we do not have a stable foundation in, not because of the school, but because of the personal abilities students have for themselves.”

Laptops, good connection, electricity, and stability are all considered privileges that not all Lebanese students have. How is online learning supposed to work without being able to go… online? The Ministry of Education shares the primary responsibility of ensuring that each and every student has access to online learning, whether through using the allocated money to buy laptops or adjusting the curriculum to fit the circumstances. Instead, students live in a constant state of fear and stress. Al-Majzoub revealed on October 2, 2020, that they reached an agreement to support public and private school students through paying for books and stationery. 

“There are some concepts or subjects that are harder to retain online when we’ve habitually adapted to traditional methods and a more attention grabbing environment like the classroom; Wi-Fi in Lebanon is a catastrophe so whatever we miss due to a disconnection is on us. I’m having to work individually and exert plenty of effort on my own to keep up with some of my classes”. Tala Abdallah stated.

“I believe that I’m not learning anything nor benefiting from the lessons being presented to us via PowerPoint, but rather I’m simply fulfilling assignments blindly just to get a grade and not fail. Some might say that I can manage if I only try to concentrate, but how am I supposed to teach myself 11 subjects that I originally would already struggle with learning when taught by a professional teacher? Not to mention the very demotivating ambiance that most of us are enduring but have to deal with because in the end its our education and skill acquirements that are going to structure and determine our future.” Ghida Hashem exclaimed. 

It is not enough to simply deliver the material in any shape or form and expect students, who have an undecided future, to take on the responsibilities of an entire Ministry. Students are not robots; they are not able to process every single detail, let alone deal with a connection and electricity problem, with absolutely no compensation to facilitate. The younger generation is the future generation, and their education must always be a top priority for the country. It shall never be tampered with. Unfortunately, the ruling class today has shown little concern for the lives of the Lebanese people, let alone their education and future. 

References

[1] https://www.the961.com/corruption-lawsuit-against-ex-education-minister/

[2] https://www.the961.com/lebanon-education-minister-forgery-violating-law/