Uncovering obstacles and opportunities in education reform and development through responses during compounded crises in Lebanon

• In Event: Education Policy, Democracy and Reform (II)

Proposal

From 2019 to 2023, Lebanon has been experiencing a series of crises that has resulted in over three years of learning loss. Anti-corruption uprisings in October 2019; the COVID-19 pandemic; economy crashing resulting in devaluation of the Lebanese Pound by nearly 90%; resources such as electricity, petrol and pharmaceuticals becoming scarce; teacher strikes protesting low pay; and the Beirut port explosion that damaged 90 public and 73 private schools (UNESCO, 2020). During school closures, only children with advanced digital devices (e.g. smartphones/laptops, sufficient RAM and memory), electricity (access to generator and government power) and connectivity (affordable and reliable WIFI) can access synchronous learning activities.

In this study, we examined responses from education stakeholders to identify various policies and practices that either [continue to] threaten or facilitate education reform and recovery. We draw on a model of resilience (Béné et al., 2016; Shah, 2019) to examine relationships between responses and factors that strengthen or weaken an education system, particularly during crises.

At CIES, we hope to respond to Sub-theme question 3.3: How can school systems be better prepared to adapt to and to combat disruptions such as natural disasters and the COVID pandemic? We carried out semi-structured interviews with key informants from three main education sector groups: international non-governmental organizations, government agencies and school-based practitioners. Questions covered four domains: (1) literacy and numeracy, (2) teacher education, (3) government policy and research and (4) response to crises. Responses were probed further with questions on approaches towards social and emotional learning, vulnerable children, transitions from kindergarten to first grade and responses during the series of crises.

Some of the threats to sustainable education reform and recovery that we have identified include coordination among key system actors that appears to be either minimal or in tension, despite incidents of efforts to coordinate. Also, communication channels between central level actors and school-based practitioners appear to be unilateral, top-down. Principals and teachers have virtually little or no opportunity to feed into evidence-informed decision-making at the government level. Even when working with international and local NGOs, teachers and principals are often positioned as recipients of resources developed at a higher level for them to implement in school.

Years of unresolved pay terms and conditions for contractual teachers resulted in strikes, leaving children without provisions of learning. The teacher strikes also affected Syrian refugee children, leaving them with virtually no access to online learning during the pandemic school closures or when schools were closed due to teacher strikes.

The responses and testimonies provided by school-based practitioners and parents and key informants from the ministry of education outline why certain responses took place. We anticipate a lively discussion on identifying roots and causes that can either hinder or support education reform and development. At CIES we will also share pathways to strengthening resilience. Principals and teachers quickly adapted to the challenges of online learning and teaching. While the ministry’s directives required all teachers and students to shift to Microsoft Teams as an online classroom platform, teachers could not afford the digital demands of bandwidth and device memory. Instead, most reportedly created platforms using more user-friendly applications such as WhatsApp and Zoom. These required time beyond the regular class hours as parents and children would ask for support and teachers would reply in late evenings and nights. The non-formal education sector also demonstrated degrees of sustainable responses by leveraging coordination mechanisms and experiences developed during the influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon to mobilize needs assessments.

Authors

• Rajani Shrestha, RTI International

• Paulette Assaf, RTI International

• Bassel Akar, Lebanese Association for Educational Studies