The secretary general of the Association of Catholic Schools, Nabil Costa, estimated, on MTV Lebanon, that the current situation was induced by the lack of vision of the current authorities and called for the establishment of a advice in the field of education to plan the next school year.
The private schools are ready to help the pupils, estimates the person in charge but the opinion of the educators must be heard and the plan of the ministry of education would not be according to him applicable in the state.
Nabil Costa thus noted that many teachers have already emigrated out of Lebanon and that others could soon stop working due to the financial difficulties caused by the current economic crisis that the country of the cedars is going through. He also asked for the abolition of patent examinations this year, believing that the COVID19 pandemic does not allow the organization of such a procedure as was the case previously. He was referring to the fact that it appears to be difficult to comply with the distancing measures during this review.
As a reminder, the committee in charge of the fight against the coronavirus which met on April 14 called for the resumption of the activity of the education sector in all its branches and stages: public education, vocational and technical education and higher education , gradually within an integrated program that takes into account all preventive measures against the disease.
This has been greatly disrupted since the beginning of the year due to the upsurge in the number of cases that followed the end of the year holidays. Until now, the courses have continued virtually and not face-to-face.
The outgoing Minister of Education Tarek Majzoub, however, had conditioned the reopening of classes to the provision for teachers and students of vaccines last March . He also indicated that efforts would be underway in cooperation with the World Bank, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Lebanese Red Cross to secure a possible return to class for students and teachers. However, this would be conditional on the availability of vaccines.
Yesterday, the education minister announced that a vaccination program will be launched in higher education schools . Other institutions may follow, “but if we don’t complete the vaccination process, that doesn’t mean we can’t go back to the integrated education plan while adhering to preventive measures and procedures”.
A reduction in the program for all levels is currently under study, notes the minister. Minor changes have also been decided, while 60,000 computers and tablets, IT tools, will be distributed to students to set up distance learning platforms.
Official exams at all levels will however remain maintained from July 26, announces Tarek Majzoub with the exception of the patent which should take place on July 12 under the supervision of the Ministry of National Education.
