LEBANON: Independent group provides Syrian refugees with access to education

Record ID: 274446

  • Title: LEBANON: Independent group provides Syrian refugees with access to education
  • Date: 25th September 2013
  • Summary: TRIPOLI, LEBANON (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SCHOOL BUILDING WHERE SYRIAN REFUGEES STUDENTS STUDY IN THE AFTERNOON SIGN READING (Arabic) 'SECONDARY CIVIL CARE COMPLEX' GROUP OF SYRIAN REFUGEES CHILDREN STANDING IN SCHOOL YARD CLOSE OF SYRIAN REFUGEES STUDENTS DOING VICTORY SIGNS VARIOUS OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN SCHOOL'S HALL SYRIAN REFUGEES STUDENTS INSIDE CLASSROOM
  • Embargoed: 10th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: People,Education,Social Services / Welfare
  • Reuters ID: LVAXEKAGIK95PUTK3B9NH2UEVSZ
  • Story Text: Schools in Lebanon have recently opened their doors to students after a long summer break.
    But as Lebanon continues to see a rising influx of Syrian refugees, schools are finding it difficult to absorb more students amid a shortage of funds.
    There are almost 400,000 Syrian children in Lebanon who need education, among them 100,000 who have enrolled in Lebanese schools this year.
    The remaining 300,000 will have to get education through aid agencies like UNICEF.
    So far UNICEF has provided education for 60,000 students but it says a shortage of funds is making its mission difficult.
    The Lebanese ministry of education has previously said that it will allow its public schools to provide education for Syrian refugees in the evenings.
    But despite the ministry's gesture, public schools are still struggling to cater for the growing number of refugees in the country.
    To help tackle the problem, a small independent group has taken on the mission to provide Syrian children with access to education by dedicating its time to teach students in a public school in Tripoli.
    "The Syrian Education Commission is made up of a group of teachers and administrators who took the responsibility of teaching Syrian children in Lebanon. When we first started, the education ministry's figures indicated that there was 135,000 Syrian students in Lebanon last year, 12 months ago. Based on the figures and statistics from our meetings with the education ministry, the education ministry has managed about 30,000 to 35,000 of them, while we, as the education commission, managed 3,000 and there are other schools taking care of this too," said Hamed Saffour, a member of the Syrian Education Commission.
    But the the group says it is struggling to secure enough funds for its project amid the rising number of displaced Syrian students in the country.
    "There is a big increase. We started inscriptions last year with 200 students, this year we have around 1,500 students. So the number of students is very big now. We, as activists, are surely in need of funding, our funds last year were based on personal funds, from people in Saudi Arabia, London, Germany, and a small organisation here. This year, we need bigger funding," explained Saffour.
    UNICEF has said that of about 400,000 registered refugee children, only a quarter were able to enroll in public schools this year, leaving aid groups to fill the gap.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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