RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS PAPER: EDUCATION FOR SYRIAN CHILDREN

The Imperative of Improving Syrian Refugee Children’s Access to Education in Lebanon

Rachel Mayer

INAFU8882: Practicum on Education in Emergencies

Professor Allison Anderson

March 27, 2015

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Introduction

Syrian refugee children face an array of challenges in their respective host countries.

Education, though often considered less urgent than other humanitarian services from donors’

perspectives, is one of the most highly demanded humanitarian service among refugees. In

Lebanon, perhaps the most pressing problem with respect to education is access to education for

Syrian refugees1. This begs the following questions: Why are so many Syrian refugee children in

Lebanon not in school, and what can be done to mitigate this problem in the short term and

ensure that all Syrian refugee children in Lebanon have access to education in the long term?

To answer these questions, it is necessary to employ a two­pronged methodology. The first

part is a case study of the Bekaa Valley that vividly illustrates the problem of access to education

for Syrian refugee children on a small scale. The second part is a macro­level comparative study

of access to education for Syrian refugee children in Lebanon nationally, as well as in

comparison to that situations of Syrian refugee children in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt, in

order to demonstrate paint a more holistic picture of the problem, its causes, what has

exacerbated the issue, what has failed to address it, and what is needed to solve it.

As only a brief study of a highly complex issue, this paper has several limitations. First, the

study is not comprehensive—it does not examine every town and every case in Lebanon since

the onset of the Syrian refugee crisis. Second, this study is based on the analysis of secondary

sources rather than primary sources from fieldwork such as interviews and surveys. Third, this

1 “Improving Access to Education for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon,” Jadaliyya, November 6, 2013, http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/14922/improving­access­to­education­for­syrian­refugees­; Kevin Watkins and Steven A. Zyck, Living on Hope, Hoping for Education | The Failed Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis (Overseas Development Institute (ODI), September 2014), http://www.odi.org/publications/8829­syria­refugee­education­crisis­hope; Kevin Watkins, Education without Borders: A Summary (Lebanon: A World at School, September 23, 2013), http://www.odi.org/publications/7851­education­without­borders­summary; Judith Cochran, “The Education of Syrian Refugee Children | Middle East Institute,” Middle East Institute, August 20, 2014, http://www.mei.edu/content/at/education­syrian­refugee­children.

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study was not randomized and is subject to selection bias. Finally, this study only deals with

issue of access to education; it does not address the key issue of access to quality education.

Background

As the crisis in Syria enters its fifth year, the situation for Syrian refugees remains dire. In

Lebanon, Syrian refugees face a myriad of challenges as Lebanon struggles to cope with the

influx of almost 1.2 million refugees, which amounts to more than 25% of Lebanon’s current

population2. With regards to education, while perhaps the most pressing issue for Syrian refugees

is access to education, there are also a number of other important issues that must likewise be

addressed in order to meet the needs of Syrian refugees and fulfill their rights to education3.

Some of these concerns include overcrowding in schools, language barriers, the question of

quality education, bullying, and basic school safety and security4. There are also a number of

factors outside of education that significantly impact access to education and the quality of

education for Syrian refugee children, including but not limited to financial instability, poverty,

child labor, child marriage, hunger, malnutrition, trauma and psychological problems,

discrimination, sexual and gender­based violence, tensions between refugees and host country

citizens, tensions within the refugee population, access to healthcare, and access to quality

housing5. Nevertheless, this study focuses specifically on the issue of access to education.

2 UNHCR, “Lebanon,” UNHCR, Syria Regional Refugee Response Inter­Agency Information Sharing Portal | UNHCR, (November 19, 2014), http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122.3 “LEBANON­SYRIA: No School Today ­ Why Syrian Refugee Children Miss out on Education,” IRINnews, August 8, 2012, http://www.irinnews.org/report/96053/lebanon­syria­no­school­today­why­syrian­refugee­children­miss­out­on­education; Miriam Azar, “Bringing Learning to Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon,” UNICEF, January 10, 2014, http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/lebanon_71753.html; Watkins and Zyck, Living on Hope, Hoping for Education | The Failed Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis; Watkins, Education without Borders: A Summary.4 “LEBANON­SYRIA”; Azar, “Bringing Learning to Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon”; Watkins and Zyck, Living on Hope, Hoping for Education | The Failed Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis; Watkins, Education without Borders: A Summary.

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Findings

Let us begin with a brief case study. The Bekaa Valley, which has become the makeshift

home of the perhaps the most impoverished and marginalized of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon6.

Many refugees in the Bekaa Valley live in terrible, “junkyard” conditions and struggle for basic

survival7. As early as 2012, the “number of Syrians seeking refuge in the Bekaa has exceeded the

capacity of the area”8. As one of the worst­off regions in Lebanon for Syrian refugees, this case

illustrates the problem of access to education and the potential causes behind it in an area where

Syrian refugee children are most impacted by it.

5 UNHCR, “Lebanon”; Geoff Wiffin and Simon Ingram, UNICEF Syria Regional Crisis Humanitarian SitRep (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt) (UNICEF, May 20, 2014), UNHCR, http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/partner.php?OrgId=50; Kevin Sullivan et al., “Scraps of Life,” Washington Post, SCRAPS OF LIFE A Junkyard Camp, (2013), http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/syrian­refugees/2013/12/02/scraps­of­life/; Ghida Anani, “Dimensions of Gender­Based Violence against Syrian Refugees in Lebanon,” Forced Migration Review, no. 44 (September 2013): S7–10, http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/docview/1440257972?pq­origsite=summon; Jeremy Loveless, “Crisis in Lebanon: Camps for Syrian Refugees?,” Forced Migration Review, no. 43 (May 2013): 66–68, http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/docview/1398764379?pq­origsite=summon; Ziad El­Khatib et al., “Syrian Refugees, between Rocky Crisis in Syria and Hard Inaccessibility to Healthcare Services in Lebanon and Jordan,” Conflict and Health 7 (2013), doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/10.1186/1752­1505­7­18.6 Khairunissa Dhala, “Freezing Conditions, Forgotten Camps – Refugees from Syria in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley,” Amnesty International E­MAGAZINE, 2012, Amnesty International, http://www.amnestymena.org/en/magazine/Issue21/ForgottenCampsSyrianRefugeesinLebanonsBekaa.aspx?articleID=1127; Refworld | Syria Refugee Response: Lebanon, Bekaa & Baalbek­El Hermel Governorate ­ Distribution of the Registered Syrian Refugees at the Cadastral Level ­ As of 31 October 2014, accessed November 21, 2014, http://refworld.org/country,,,,LBN,,54631ebe4,0.html; “UNHCR Syria Regional Refugee Response | Lebanon | Bekaa,” UNHCR Syria Regional Refugee Response, March 26, 2015, http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/settlement.php?id=201&country=122&region=90; Samer Al­Husayni, “Syrian Refugees Bring Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley to Breaking Point ­ Al­Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East,” trans. Naria Tanoukhi, Al­Monitor, July 31, 2012, http://www.al­monitor.com/pulse/tr/politics/2012/07/direction­to­exclude­public­scho.html.7 Sullivan et al., “Scraps of Life.”8 Al­Husayni, “Syrian Refugees Bring Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley to Breaking Point ­ Al­Monitor”; ,سامر الحسيني ,“توجهات لتحييد المدارس الرسمية وإقامة مخيمات للوافدين الجدد | أعـداد النـازحين السـوريين تتجـاوز قـدرات البقـاع على استيعابهـم,” جريدة السفيرJuly 31, 2012, http://www.al­monitor.com/pulse/tr/politics/2012/07/direction­to­exclude­public­scho.html, http://assafir.com/article/283014; Dhala, “Freezing Conditions, Forgotten Camps – Refugees from Syria in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.”

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Access to education and school enrollment have been some of the most urgent concerns for

Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley. According to an article by Khairunissa Dhala published in

Amnesty International’s E­Magazine in 2012, none of the families they spoke to in the makeshift

camp were sending their children to school in part because of discrimination, fear of violence

and kidnapping, and poor quality of teaching, in addition to social and physical isolation9.

Another reason why so many children were not enrolled in school is that children had to work to

help their families survive10. According to a World Vision report in December 2012, 60% of

Syrian refugee children in their sample from Bekaa Valley were not attending school, primarily

due to financial barriers, “as 39% of parents mentioned that they cannot afford school fees or

other costs,” but there were other reasons as well: “lack of classrooms/too crowded/not enough

space (10%), transportation to school is too costly (9%), the adolescent is done with school (8%),

school is insecure (5%), transportation to school is not safe (5%), instruction is not in children’s

language (5%), absence of required documentation (4%), and school is too far (3%)11.”

The situation in Bekaa Valley for education has improved since 2012, but it had been

coupled an exponential increase in the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon as the crisis in

Syria worsened12. The Lebanese government generously began allowing double­shifting for

9 Dhala, “Freezing Conditions, Forgotten Camps – Refugees from Syria in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.”10 Chulov Martin, “Lebanon’s Refugee Schools Provide Hope for Syria’s Lost Generation,” The Guardian, May 5, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/05/lebanon­refugee­schools­syria­lost­generation.11 Needs AssessmentReport | Syrian Refugees | Bekaa Area, Lebanon (Bekaa Area, Lebanon: World Vision, December 24, 2012), UNHCR, http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/documents.php?page=3&view=grid&Language%5B%5D=1&Settlement%5B%5D=201#page­2.12 “Bekaa”; Education Working Group Meeting­ Minutes (Zahle, Lebanon: Lebanon Education Working Group, October 23, 2013), UNHCR, http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/documents.php?page=2&view=grid&Language%5B%5D=1&Settlement%5B%5D=201#page­2; Education Working Group Meeting Bekaa ­ Minutes (Zahle, Lebanon: Lebanon Education Working Group, March 11, 2014), UNHCR, http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/documents.php?page=1&view=grid&Language%5B%5D=1&Settlement%5B%5D=201; UNHCR, “Lebanon.”

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primary schools, whereby Syrian refugee children would attend school during the second shift,

which has certainly helped significantly, but for many Syrian children, school is still out of

reach13. On top of this, “Syrians enrolled in the Lebanese system receive formal qualifications

when they graduate,” but many of the schools that Syrians attend “are considered informal and

not recognised by the government,” which means that these Syrian children “cannot advance to

secondary schools or be accepted into the state system14.” Despite the success of this initiative,

the same barriers that prevented Syrian refugee children from attending school in 2012 continue

to prevent Syrian children in the Bekaa Valley and all over Lebanon from going to school15.

On a national level in Lebanon, access to education has likewise been one of the most

pressing issues regarding education for Syrian refugee children. In 2012, only 20% of registered

Syrian refugee children in Lebanon were attending school, due to lack of awareness of the

education options in Lebanon, language barriers, financial obstacles, distance and physical

isolation, legal barriers, and lack of desire to re­enroll after previous school dropout in Syria16.

But as the number of refugees continued to rise, the issues of access grew more and more urgent.

The 2013 A World at School Report “Education without Borders: A Summary” states that,

“Lebanon is on the front­line of the refugee education crisis” because, despite the Lebanese

government’s “enormous generosity in opening the country’s schools”, about 300,000 refugee

children were not enrolled in school17. As of September 2013, 80% of Syrian refugee children in

13 Martin, “Lebanon’s Refugee Schools Provide Hope for Syria’s Lost Generation”; “Improving Access to Education for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon”; FUTURES UNDER THREAT | The Impact of the Education Crisis on Syria’s Children (Save the Children, 2014), https://www.savethechildren.net/sites/default/files/libraries/Futures%20Under%20Threat_0.pdf.14 Martin, “Lebanon’s Refugee Schools Provide Hope for Syria’s Lost Generation.”15 “Bekaa”; UNHCR, “Lebanon”; Larry Elliott and Jill Treanor, “Gordon Brown: Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Could Be Educated for $1 a Day,” The Guardian, January 22, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/22/gordon­brown­syria­refugees­lebanon­education­schools­unicef; Wiffin and Ingram, Syria Crisis Monthly Humanitarian Situation Report.16 “LEBANON­SYRIA.”

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Lebanon were not in school18. Putting this into perspective, Watkins explains that, “If Syria’s

refugee children were a country, they would have the world’s lowest enrolment rate19.” The

report provides numerous reasons for this crisis, including the political, socioeconomic, and

demographic pressures that such a large influx of refugees has placed on Lebanon and the failure

of the international community to “to respond to the education needs of Syria’s children” quickly

enough20. The No Lost Generation strategy was launched in 2013 to tackle this problem, but

donor funding failed to match the needs and urgency of this campaign21.

In June 2014, the Lebanese government launched the education plan “Reaching All Children

with Education in Lebanon” or “RACE”, a three­year program that “seeks to ensure that

vulnerable school­aged children (3­18 years) affected by the Syria crisis are able to access

quality formal and non­formal learning opportunities in safe and protective environments in

Lebanon.” “Under this plan”, which “consists of an integrated package of three main

components: ensuring equitable access to educational opportunities; improving the quality of

teaching and learning; and strengthening national education systems, policies and monitoring”,

an average of 413,000 out­of­school Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese school­aged

children annually “will benefit from learning opportunities over three years22.” But the lack of

sufficient funding and “a gathering sense of donor fatalism” remain some of the greatest

obstacles to ensuring access to education for Syrian children23. This problem continued to plague

17 Watkins, Education without Borders: A Summary.18 “The Future of Syria | Refugee Children in Crisis | The Challenge of Education,” The Future of Syria, accessed March 31, 2015, http://unhcr.org/FutureOfSyria/the­challenge­of­education.html#the­extent­of­the­problem.19 Watkins, Education without Borders: A Summary.20 Ibid.21 Watkins and Zyck, Living on Hope, Hoping for Education | The Failed Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis; “Champion the #childrenofsyria,” Champion the #childrenofsyria, accessed March 29, 2015, http://nolostgeneration.org/; “Situation Today,” Champion the #childrenofsyria, accessed March 29, 2015, http://nolostgeneration.org/situationtoday; “The Challenge of Education.”22 Wiffin and Ingram, Syria Crisis Monthly Humanitarian Situation Report.

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Lebanon in 2014, as 78% of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon remained out of school24. To put

the crisis into perspective comparatively across the region, in the same year, 65% of Syrian

refugee children in Iraq, 56% of Syrian refugee children in Turkey, 48% of Syrian refugee

children in Jordan, and 22% of Syrian refugee children in Egypt were out of school25. Judith

Cochran’s statistics, which she takes from UNICEF’s “Syria Crisis: Education Interrupted”

report, differ somewhat, wherein 80% of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, 66% of Syrian

refugee children in Iraq, 63% of Syrian refugee children in Turkey, 47% of Syrian refugee

children in Egypt, and 45% of Syrian refugee children in Jordan were not school26. In both cases,

Lebanon has the highest percentage of Syrian refugee children among not in school.

Access to education and school enrollment remain major concerns in 2015. According to the

2015 LCRP Sector Response Plan for Education, only 377,000 of 750,000 people in need were

targeted, and only 51% of girls and 49% of boys were enrolled in school, despite significant

improvements and initiatives to increase access to education for Syrian refugees. There were

many achievements in 2014, including, “141,000 were supported to enroll in formal education”;

“90,000 children registered as refugees by UNHCR were supported through payment of

enrollment fees”; “44,700 poor Lebanese were supported with parent contributions”; “6,300

Palestine refugees from Syria students attended UNRWA­managed schools in Lebanon”; “99

schools were renovated in order to increase classroom capacity, improve school conditions, and

provided WASH facilities for boys and girls”; “2,500 Lebanese teachers benefited from

professional development”; and “Psychosocial support in learning centres and schools was

23 Watkins and Zyck, Living on Hope, Hoping for Education | The Failed Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis.24 Ibid.25 Ibid.26 Cochran, “The Education of Syrian Refugee Children | Middle East Institute.”

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increased to cater for nearly 55,000 children traumatized by the conflict27.” However, access and

enrollment are still “priority interventions”28.

Conclusion

Access to education for Syrian refugee children is a problem throughout the region, but it is

most urgent in Lebanon. There are a myriad of explanations for why so many Syrian refugee

children are still not attending school. For many Syrian refugee families in Lebanon, the primary

barrier is financial. Poverty is a key concern for many refugees in Lebanon, many of whom have

no means of independently supporting themselves in Lebanon because what little wealth they

had from Syria has run out and they face legal and social obstacles to residence, employment,

and sustainable livelihoods in Lebanon. Refugees are almost entirely dependent on the support of

donors, as aid agencies such as UNHCR, UNICEF, and Save the Children are responsible for

supplying the bulk of their basic needs. Thus, when donors fail to fully fund them, as has been

the case throughout the crisis and especially in the last two years due to donor fatigue, these

organizations cannot adequately fulfill their mandates and refugees suffer as a result.

Other reasons for low enrollment and poor access to education include capacity concerns

and the fact that there simply is not enough space. Although double shifting and building more

schools have significantly helped reduce this problem, they have not yet solved it. Also, the issue

of space is compounded by other financial and logistical constraints. To ameliorate this issue,

Lebanon needs more support form the international community, both in terms of humanitarian

and development assistance, and in terms of refugee resettlement in third countries. Lebanon is

27 Simone Vis and Audrey Nirrengarten, LCRP 2015 Sector Plan ­ Education (Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), UNICEF and UNHCR, 2015), UNHCR, http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/working_group.php?Page=Country&LocationId=122&Id=21.28 Ibid.

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near breaking point, and states capable of hosting refugees, including Western countries, such as

the U.S. and several European countries, whose rhetoric about the plight of refugees has not

necessarily matched their policies regarding Syrian refugees, should pledge to host more Syrian

refugees to take some weight off of Lebanon’s already exhausted and overworked shoulders 29.

There are also a number of other possible, including language barriers, discrimination, bullying,

sectarian tensions, fear of violence, child marriage, and the fact that some had previously

dropped out of school or had been out of school for what they perceived as too long.

But despite all of these potential explanations, pointing out the extent of the problem and its

possible causes is only the first piece of the puzzle. The more challenging part is recommending

prescriptions to ameliorate this problem. My recommendations are as follows:

1. Donors should increase funding for Education Cluster in particular as well as for

humanitarian assistance in general, UNHCR, UNICEF, Save the Children, and local

Lebanese and Syrian organizations providing assistance to Syrian refugees in Lebanon;

2. Donors should increase development aid for Lebanon both in the short term and over

time to adjust to such a large influx of refugees;

3. With increased humanitarian assistance and development aid for education, the Lebanese

Ministry of Education should increase teacher pay and provide more incentives for

teachers, especially for teachers who double­shift;

29 Bill Frelick, “US to Syrian Refugees: We’ll Give You Money But Stay Away, Please | Human Rights Watch,” The Huffington Post, September 2, 2014, Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/09/02/us­syrian­refugees­well­give­you­money­stay­away­please; Stephanie Kim, “Dispatches: Hypocrisy and Syria’s Refugees | Human Rights Watch,” October 28, 2014, http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/10/28/dispatches­hypocrisy­and­syria­s­refugees; “EU: Provide Protection for Syrian Refugees | Human Rights Watch,” accessed November 18, 2014, http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/12/23/eu­provide­protection­syrian­refugees.

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4. UNHCR, the Education Cluster, and the Lebanese Ministry of Education should employ

Syrians that are former educators and Syrian students that have graduated and want to

work in education;

5. Formulate programs and initiatives to reduce tensions between Syrian refugees and

Lebanese citizens and to reduce prejudice and bullying that targets Syrian children;

6. Build additional schools for Syrian children; and

7. Persuade wealthier countries that are capable of hosting refugees to take in Syrian

refugees currently residing in Lebanon that wish to be resettled elsewhere.

Naturally, each of these recommendations could produce both positive and negative results.

For example, it is easy to assume that more money will yield better results, but throwing money

at a problem often has unintended consequences and will not solve the problem on its own. Plus,

donors often dictate where money goes and for what it can be used, thus increasing the

incentives to cater to donors and not to beneficiaries. Another example is building schools. While

building schools will increase access to education for Syrian children, reduce crowding in

Lebanese schools, and perhaps reduce bullying and tensions in the short­term, “separate but

equal” is rarely if ever equal, especially if schools are build for Syrian children and Lebanese

schools exclude Syrian children. If not done properly in a way that ensures integration and equal

access to education, building schools might actually increase Syrian­Lebanese tensions in the

long­term and in turn prove problematic for the Lebanese government, which fears breeding

grounds for violence, recruitment spots for armed groups, and the development of a quasi­state.

Therefore, once implemented, these recommendations should be closely monitored with an eye

toward unintended consequences.

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Several of these recommendations can and should apply to similar crises in the future. For

example, in all cases, it is critical to listen to the affected communities and empower them to

communicate their demands to both humanitarian organizations and donors. Second, increasing

funding for both humanitarian assistance and development aid and aid specifically for the IASC

Education Cluster is necessary in almost all emergency situations. Third, employing members of

the affected community and building on the community’s existing strengths, skill sets, and

capacities can be beneficial to both the host country and the affected community. Finally, in all

cases of massive refugee spillover, it is necessary to create initiatives to better integrate refugees

into the host countries and reduce tensions and prejudices that may arise as a result of the

spillover.

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