Restoring Education
85,000 students have had their access to education disrupted in Lebanon, with 228 schools damaged or destroyed by the blasts, along with 20 vocational training centres and 32 universities. In the immediate aftermath of the explosions, at the request of the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education, UNESCO was made responsible for leading and coordinating efforts to rehabilitate the schools in Lebanon. UNESCO and its partners immediately appealed to donors who have responded to this call, providing USD$35 million: the total cost of the needs. Thanks to these funds, rehabilitation works started quickly. And despite the pandemic, the work continued until it was fully completed after only 18 months, and all 280 educational institutions were ready to welcome students again.
Our action for Education in numbers
A public school in Achrafieh
"Just 18 months on from the disaster, we are pleased to announce that it’s a promise kept. Thanks to donors and to the mobilization of UNESCO team and all our partners, the goal of rehabilitating the 280 damaged educational institutions has been reached. It is a demonstration of our Organization's ability to mobilize and act quickly after a major crisis. UNESCO is determined to support its Member States and contribute to access to education, which is a fundamental right."
In the details, UNESCO has directly rehabilitated 95 public and private schools, 20 TVETs and 30 university buildings. In addition to rehabilitation, UNESCO also provided equipment and furniture items, as well as appliances to universities and public schools, and carried out restoration work in eleven school libraries in the capital, training librarians and teachers and collecting books.
UNESCO particularly thanks Education Above All Foundation and Education Cannot Wait for their significant participation in the Li Beirut initiative.
Following the rehabilitation of educational institutions, UNESCO is currently mobilizing international partnerships and resources, as well as technical and institutional support towards the achievement of the Five-Year General Education Plan for Lebanon (5YP), and as an integral part of UNESCO’s flagship initiative Li Beirut. A letter of intent was signed in November 2021 in Paris by UNESCO and the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education, to confirm UNESCO’s support to the 5YP, through technical assistance expertise and specialized support for the actual implementation of several key components of the 5YP.
The 5YP has been developed by the Ministry of Education with specialized expertise from UNESCO Beirut Office and the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning. It has been launched by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of Lebanon in August 2021, during the visit of the UNESCO Assistant Director General for Education Stefania Giannini. It is the first nationally led education sector plan for Lebanon and will allow supporting a more resilient education system through coordinated action around strategic objectives and critical reforms. The plan focuses on the public sector while seeking synergies with the private school sector, on opportunities to improve access and learning outcomes, and on providing a framework for public-private initiatives that will bring innovation to the delivery of education services.