Children who have fled Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon take part in a drawing workshop organized by volunteers, at a reception center in Beirut where they have taken refuge with their families, on Oct. 20, 2024. (Credit: Ibrahim Amro/AFP)
Public schools will reopen on Monday, Nov. 4, nearly a month after private schools resumed on Oct. 7. Caretaker Education Minister Abbas Halabi announced this decision last Thursday, after meeting with public school stakeholders, including school principals, teachers’ unions and representatives from UNICEF and UNESCO.
The resumption of classes was announced despite the intensification of Israeli bombardments in multiple Lebanese areas, including southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Baalbek-Hermel districts in northern Bekaa and parts of western Bekaa. The public school year, originally set to begin in early October, was postponed until November following the Sept. 27 assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Already 175,000 students and 28,000 teachers enrolled
“The reopening will be gradual, with classes resuming on Monday,” Halabi told L’Orient-Le Jour. “Classes will be held in person in 350 public schools not housing displaced people, three days per week per student. Those unable to return immediately can join as soon as possible,” he explained.
As of Oct. 28, 175,000 students and 28,000 teachers had registered on the ministry’s platform for the new school year, the minister said. “This includes 38,000 displaced students, many of whom come from private schools.”
Registration will remain open online until Nov. 21 to accommodate others, he added. Students at 390 schools located in bombed areas can " continue their education remotely through their original schools or transfer to other schools for in-person classes.”
The decision to hold classes starting Monday faced resistance from some teachers, “It was essential to decide and not delay indefinitely. We must avoid losing the school year. Returning to school benefits students, teachers, and the quality of education,” Halabi said.
Lebanon’s education standards have sharply declined since 2019, which marked the onset of a series of crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted education. The current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on Oct. 8, 2023, and has escalated since late September, is now impacting the sector.
Around 169 private school buildings may be made available
According to a recent UNICEF report, “the ongoing war in Lebanon disrupts children’s lives, inflicting severe physical and deep psychological trauma.”
“At least one child is killed every day in Lebanon, and ten are injured daily since Oct. 4,” UNICEF reported, noting that “since October 2023, 166 children have been killed in Lebanon, and 1,168 have been injured, according to the Ministry of Health.”
As part of the public school reopening plan, Halabi is considering “the possibility of using 169 private school buildings in the afternoons,” as many public schools have been requisitioned to house displaced people from affected areas.
“I discussed this issue Thursday with Father Youssef Nasr, secretary-general of Catholic schools and head of the Private Schools Union. I await confirmation or counterproposals,” he said.
“Every school day is a day gained,” he added. “Once Lebanese students are back in class, we will begin enrolling Syrian students,” who accounted for roughly 200,000 seats in Lebanese schools last year.
