Salam calls for curriculum updates and modern technology in Lebanon's schools

BEIRUT — Speaking during a Transition and Resilience Education Fund (TREF) meeting at the Grand Serail on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called for Lebanon's education system to update its curricula and start integrating modern technology — including artificial intelligence — into the classroom.

TREF was launched in 2022 by the Ministry of Education in partnership with Unicef, the EU and other partners, as a mechanism for coordinating aid for Lebanon's education sector, which struggles from out-of-date infrastructure, poor teaching salaries, limited resources and weak funding.

During the Tuesday meeting, which was also attended by Education Minister Rima Karameh, Salam said that amid the various crises of the past five years, which disrupted children's right to education, "TREF stood as a partner to Lebanon, helping keep schools open, supporting teachers to continue, and giving children the chance to hold on to hope for tomorrow," the state-run National News Agency reported.

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"The responsibility for education rests first and foremost on the Lebanese state," Salam said, "and my government is committed to safeguarding it. We consider strengthening and financing public education ... a national priority." He emphasized that his government's partnerships with the international community, through TREF and other organizations, does not relinquish the country's officials of their responsibilities toward working to improve education in Lebanon.

The ability to maintain an education system hinges on "respecting and supporting" teachers, Salam said, and ensuring schools are equipt to provide "at least the basic services."

“We have begun mobilizing local resources and are moving forward with institutional reforms to build a modern, transparent Ministry of Education," Salam is quoted as saying. "Reform, however, is not limited to administration alone; it must also include curricula and teaching methods."

"We need to update our curricula, integrate modern technology, including artificial intelligence, and strengthen critical thinking, creativity, and life skills."

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UNICEF's representative in Lebanon, Marcoluigi Corsi, was also at the TREF meeting and is cited as having said the organization was proof that "partnership is the best way to ensure every child in Lebanon can access inclusive, quality education and the skills needed for the 21st century."

Lebanon's school years have been battered by the prolonged economic crisis that began in 2019 followed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the Beirut Port explosion the same year. Three years later, during the war between Israel and Hezbollah, fighting impacted dozens of schools, mainly in the South. Israel's escalation of the war in September 2024 forced mass displacement. Hundreds of families remain unable to return home as Israel continues its airstrikes on Lebanon despite having agreed to a cease-fire, and many schools damaged or destroyed.