Lebanon Education and the Education System - Essay Example

Lebanon education and the education system Lebanon is one of the countries that have made significant strides in improving the education standards of her nationals over the years. She is a signatory to the International Convention on the rights of the Child and, therefore, strives to ensure free and accessible education to all children (Samira, Achim & Sarhan 54). Also, Lebanon is trying to lower its drop-out rate which is currently very high. Educational facilities for children with special needs need to be improved. The trends of education in Lebanon are towards education privatization and in as much as the government provides public education. There are numerous progressive laws that have been devised in regard to education in Lebanon but they are yet to be enforced. These laws have a potential of improving the Lebanese education system and consequently improving the life of the Lebanese (Samira, Achim & Sarhan 64). Also, it can promote respect and understanding among all political and religious groups in Lebanon. Education in Lebanon is compulsory. Compulsory education in the country was adopted as early as 1736 and influenced the adoption of the compulsory education in Ottoman Empire in 1869 (Hamdan 5). The compulsory education was abandon by the Ottoman Empire rulers but was readopted in Lebanon in 1959. In 1971, the Lebanese education system established Education Centre for research and Development (ECRD) (Hamdan 5). ECRD has a responsibility to drafting state schools’ textbooks, setting the curriculums and overseeing the Lebanese education system at large. Lebanon took part in the world conference that adopted World Declaration on Education for All which classifies education as a human right. This made Lebanese education system to set several objectives and means to achieve them. These objectives include broadening the means and scope of basic education, facilitating universal access to learning and promoting equity. ECRD also changed the curriculum to include subjects such as Theatre, Arts and IT at the basic education level. The ministry of education and higher education in 2004 published national strategy for education for all. Lebanon education system consists of primary education and intermediate education, secondary education, vocational and technical education, and higher education (Samira, Achim & Sarhan 55). Primary education in Lebanon has been free since 1987. English, Arabic, and French are the instructional medium in the private schools. The duration of Lebanese primary education is 5 years (Hamdan 15). After completion of primary education, children proceed to intermediate education which takes 4 years. They receive intermediate an certificate on completion of this level. The individual then proceeds to get secondary education which takes 3 years. There are many high quality secondary schools in Lebanon and which any student can join. All students receive a Baccalaureate certificate on completion of secondary education. Completion of secondary education ushers students into technical and vocational education as well as higher education. Currently, there are 130 vocational and technical schools in Lebanon. There are also 16 colleges and universities (Hamdan 19). International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was ratified by Lebanon in 1991 (Samira, Achim & Sarhan 64). Among other thing CRC states that Children have a right to education. All children should acquire Primary education for free and therefore should be forced to attend. The convention also states that children should access secondary education that should develop their talents, personalities, physical and mental abilities. When Lebanon presented the first report to the International Committee on the Rights of the Child, the committee had several recommendations for the country. It advised Lebanese education system to emphasize on health education and teach about environmental issues and personal values (Samira, Achim & Sarhan 102). It also recommended prioritization of social welfare system and public education so as to improve the value of health and private educational institutions. As Lebanon tries to meet the requirement of the International Conventions on the Right of the Child, its education system has five main objectives that it strives to achieve. Firstly, it aims at establishing equal opportunity based education. The road towards achievement of this objective has been straightened by promoting compulsory basic education. All children under the age of 15 year have been able to access education (Hamdan 20). Introduction of early childhood development program and development of infrastructure has made all children including those with special needs to access education. Secondly, it tries to enhance quality education that promotes knowledge in the society. Efforts to achieve this objective include modernization of school management, professionalizing teaching workforce through special programs and improving methods of curriculum development and assessment (Sedgwick 2). Thirdly, Lebanon education system aims at enhancing social integration. This is done through introduction of citizen education based programs. Fourth, it aims to enhance economic development through introduction of ICT based courses in Lebanese education. The ECRD is currently in the process of incorporating ICT in state schools’ curriculum (Hamdan 11). Lastly, the Lebanese education system aims at improving governance of education. This is to be achieved through introduction of programs based on institutional development. There are three school types in private and public sector in Lebanon which are state schools, private schools and free primary schools. In addition, there are United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) institutions and schools which provide education for refugee children and other residing children (Samira, Achim & Sarhan 74) . The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has two directories: one for private schools and the other for state schools. Free-private schools are placed under private schools directorate although they are subsidized by the ministry. State schools are run by the ministry of education and higher education. They are free but children pay nominal registration at all levels. The nominal contribution may or may not be revised every year. Each student is also required to make a mandatory contribution which called family fund. This contribution is used as a cover of unexpected expenses such as unplanned wages and damages. There are roughly 1281 state schools in Lebanon (Samira, Achim & Sarhan 54). The free-private schools are theoretically free but not they are not in reality. This is because they charge a fee equivalent to 135% of the national minimum wage of about $450. The Lebanese government pays subsidies to the free-private schools. Religious groups run most of the free-private schools as others are run by Non-governmental organizations and private individuals (Sedgwick 1). There are approximately 363 free-private schools in Lebanon. There are also private schools which are 572 in number (Hamdan 8). Their fee is not regulated by the ministry of education and higher education and therefore it remains to be high. Most students in these schools are from well up families. In addition to states, free-private and private schools, there are 74 UNRWA schools which offer education to Palestinian children in camps (Hamdan 10). Lebanese children registered by UNRWA are allowed to join these schools in addition to those faced by particular hardships. Palestinians students are also allowed to attend state schools under same conditions as the Lebanese students if they are not registered with the UNRWA. Drop-out rates in the Lebanese education system is very high despite high valuation of education by Lebanese people (Samira, Achim & Sarhan 102). Also, there are many children who have never attended schools. Some students drop out of schools when they are forced to repeat due to poor performance. Poor performance is sometimes contributed by use of foreign language which students are unable to comprehend. Others attribute this to substandard education at the basic level, moral and physical punishment as well as poor parenting. When misbehaving children are punished, the do not go on well with education and consequently drop out in school. Some forms of punishment have been forbidden by the ministry to avoid associated drop-outs. Some parents may withdraw their children from schools after poor performance due to assumption that they are not good for education. Poverty is also another contributing factor to high school dropout (Hamdan 18). This is because children from poor families got to state schools where education standards are very low. They also fail to be accorded appropriate support and eventually drop out of school. The Ministry of Education and Higher Education which regulates education in Lebanon has put in place several measures to curb high dropout rates (Samira, Achim & Sarhan 54). It has tried to lure children to start schools very early by introducing three lower grades. These are pre-school, kindergarten I, and kindergarten II. These grades prepare children to join primary education as they serve as foundation. The ministry has also requested schools to allow automatic progress within the first three years. This policy has helped to keep children in school for at least 12 years (Hamdan 14). Lebanon has established a special ministry for vocational training and education. This ministry supervises institutes and schools offer vocational training and education and issues certificates and diplomas to students who successfully complete training from these schools and institutions (Hamdan 14). There are three levels of vocational and technical training and education in Lebanon. These are: vocational preparation for students who have just completed primary education; Secondary vocational and technical education for students who have just completed their intermediate education and technical and vocational higher education (Alsoufi and Jammal, 2). Secondary vocational and technical education enables students to acquire secondary technical diploma or baccalaureate. Technical and vocational higher education helps students to acquire degrees in four different fields which include: Technical superior, technical degree, technical teaching degree and master’s degree. Ministry of labor also offers vocational education for free. Ministry of education and higher education has a special doctorate for higher education which include 39 universities and institutes for higher education (Alsoufi and Jammal, 4). Some of these institutions of higher education have many branches across Lebanon. Higher education has helped in economic, political and social development in Lebanon (Hamdan 20). Universities offer degrees ranging from bachelor degrees to doctoral studies. Colleges and other institutes offer bachelor degrees with only few of them offering higher degrees. Education remains to be very important for economic, social and political development in any country. It is even more important for developing nation like Lebanon than it is for developed nations. Lebanon education system is designed to improve the level of education in the country. High repetition and dropout rates remain to the highest concern. The government and the ministry of higher education have laid strategies to enable education system to fight these problems. Previously, poor implementation of educational reforms has made it impossible to adopt positive changes in the system. This is however likely to improve and Lebanon education system will rise to meet its goals. Works Cited Al Haddad, Elias and Brakhya, Carol. Schools and Scholarships: Transforming Lebanons Education System for All. 2014. Web.18/3/2014: http://www.usaid.gov/news- information/frontlines/youth-mobile-technology/schools-and-scholarships-transforming- lebanon%E2%80%99s Alsoufi, Aref And Jammal, Ahmed. Higher education in Lebanon. Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. State of Play of the Bologna Process in the Tempus Partner Countries (2012), A Tempus Study, No 9, April 2012, EACEA, Brussels. Web.18/3/2014: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/participating_countries/ overview/lebanon_tempus_country_fiche_final.pdf Frayha, NemerThe Negative Face of the Lebanese Education System, 2009. Web.18/3/2014: http://www.lebanonrenaissance.org/assets/Uploads/0-The-negative-face-of-the-Lebanese- education-system-by-Nmer-Frayha-2009.pdf Hamdan, Haifa. Education in Lebanon. War Child Holland. Web.18/3/2014. http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/download.php?id=2023 Samira Alayan, Achim Rohde & Sarhan Dhouib. The Politics Of Education Reform In The Middle East: Self and Other in Textbooks and Curricula. 2012. Berghahn Books Sedgwick Robert. Education in Lebanon Today. 2006. Web.18/3/2014: https://www.wes.org/ewenr/00jan/practical.htm Read More