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Israel’s war creating a ‘lost generation’ of Lebanese students
TL;DR
Israel's war has resulted in a lost generation of Lebanese students, exacerbating societal disparities and threatening national unity. The destruction of schools and displacement of students have severely disrupted Lebanon's already struggling education system.
Key points
- Israel's war has created a lost generation of Lebanese students
- Destruction of schools and displacement of students
- Disruptions are widening societal disparities
- Focus on core subjects neglects citizenship education
- Education system already struggling due to economic crisis
Mentioned in this story
LebanonIsrael
Beirut, Lebanon – Israel’s war has created a lost generation of Lebanese students, widening societal disparities and, in turn, damaging national unity, experts have told Al Jazeera.
Israel has destroyed schools across southern Lebanon and displaced hundreds of thousands of students. Hundreds of educational institutions have turned into makeshift shelters for thousands of displaced people, causing a compounding series of disruptions to an education system that was already struggling as a result of a debilitating economic crisis.
Schools in Lebanon have responded by using online learning and other programs to reach students, but education experts in the country said many were still falling through the gaps. And in an effort to catch up on all the lost schooling, the focus has been on subjects such as the sciences and mathematics, with topics such as citizenship ignored.
In a country like Lebanon, with its numerous religious sects, that could lead to a dangerous future.
“The mission of an education system is to build citizens,” Carlos Naffah, an academic researcher, told Al Jazeera.
“We don’t want to face the fact that we lost a generation,” said Naffah.
Stop-gap solutions
On March 2, Israel intensified its war on Lebanon for the second time in under two years. It came on the back of Hezbollah’s first response to months of unanswered Israeli attacks on Lebanon, including more than 10,000 violations of the November 2024 ceasefire between the two sides.
Since March, Israeli attacks have displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon, among them 500,000 school-aged children, according to UNESCO. Not only are hundreds of thousands of students displaced, but many of the schools they learned in are no longer accessible.
According to UNESCO, 339 schools are located in warzones in Lebanon, while hundreds more are now acting as collective shelters to the displaced, affecting access to education for another 250,000 children. Another 100 schools are in high-risk areas, meaning they could soon become inaccessible to students.
With so many students out of school, some learning institutions have turned to online learning. But education experts said this had its drawbacks, particularly for students from lower-income families, and that a series of compounding crises has meant that every year of schooling since 2019 has been interrupted for one reason or another.
“Hybrid learning has become the de facto norm in Lebanon over the past several years due to continuous instability, from the to COVID-19, the economic crisis, and now the ongoing war,” Tala Abdulghani, a senior researcher at the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, told Al Jazeera. “However, it has often proven ineffective, particularly for vulnerable students, due to limited internet access, electricity shortages, lack of devices, and unstable living conditions, leaving many children unable to consistently access education.”
Q&A
How has Israel's war affected Lebanese students?
Israel's war has destroyed schools and displaced hundreds of thousands of students in Lebanon, leading to significant disruptions in education.
What are the consequences of the education disruptions in Lebanon?
The disruptions are widening societal disparities and threatening national unity, with a focus on core subjects neglecting important topics like citizenship.
What measures are Lebanese schools taking to continue education?
Lebanese schools are implementing online learning and other programs to reach students, but many are still falling behind.
Why is the focus on subjects like sciences and mathematics problematic in Lebanon?
Focusing primarily on sciences and mathematics while ignoring citizenship education could lead to a dangerous future in a country with diverse religious sects.
