Walaa Kayyal, a researcher living as a Palestinian in Lebanon who was interviewed for this report in October 2022 emphasised the negative impact of a lack of identity papers to pursue an education, despite UNRWA’s policy to open schools to Palestinian children outside of their “mandate” population:
“UNRWA welcomes all Palestinians to get an education, I would say, regardless of their legal status. However, they need to see an identification paper and UNRWA registration card in order to register people before giving them assistance. Sometimes the UNRWA allows children without papers to come to learn how to write and read. In Lebanon during the 9th grade all students in Lebanon- whether Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinians, etc. – take an official exam planned by the Lebanese government in all disciplines. If they pass, they go to the secondary level, high school. Those who don’t pass have to repeat their class. This is what we call the “brevet” similar to the baccalaureate that students do during the 12th grade. So, if the principal of the school is very welcoming, they would allow stateless children to come to learn how to write and read, without doing all the homework, but attending the English and Arabic sessions for example, just enough to become literate. But then when they reach the 9th grade, they cannot apply to take the official “brevet” exam because they need to have an ID for that, they need to have something to tell who they are and in order to identify them, where a card from the government is issued based on their ID in order to access the exams.”
(Source: Walaa Kayyal, interview record, 31 October 2022)
In its Protection Monitoring Report for the 2nd quarter of the year 2022, UNRWA reported that:
“Fears about the impact of transport costs on access to education were highlighted by many school principals, particularly as Palestinian children living outside the camps or at a distance from UNRWA schools are increasingly unable to access Lebanese public schools, leaving them obliged to travel to UNRWA schools. As children prepare to return to school full-time for the first time since the 2018– 2019 school year, transport costs risk being a significant barrier to education. (p. 3)”
(Source: UNRWA, “UNRWA Protection Monitoring Report – Quarter 2 (Q2) 2022”, 26 August 2022)
Refugee Net, which, according to its website, is a “Palestinian Refugee News Network in Lebanon”, published a statement by the Palestinian Teachers Union in Lebanon:
“The department also considered that UNRWA bears the responsibility for the state of the educational sector, and today’s results is an example and requires a serious review of the educational process, including the policy of automated grading and negativity in dealing with employees; the difficult economic conditions and decrease in the quality of education due to the employment policy under the pressure of the contrived financial crisis. The number of education staff in Lebanon decreased from 2,082 in 2017 to about 1,655 in 2020 and below that in 2021, despite the increase in the number of students from 3,688 in 2017 to 37,586 in 2020, which had a direct impact on today’s low rates. [...] The success rate in all UNRWA schools in Lebanon was 49.29%, while the success rate in all Lebanese public and private schools was close to 79%, according to the Ministry of Education in the Lebanese caretaker government, Abbas Halabi.”[In-house translation. The author is an Arabic native speaker]
ORIGINAL SOURCE:
ةيلمعلل ةيدج ةعجارم بلطتت يهو اهجذانم ىدحا مويلا جئاتن لكشتو ،يوبترلا عاطقلا عاضوأ هيلا تلآ ام ةيلوؤسم لمحتت »اورنولأا« ةلاكو نّ أ ،ةرئادلا تبرتعا ماك تحت فيظوتلا ةسايس ببسب ميلعتلا ةدوج ضافخناو ةبعصلا ةيداصتقلاا عاضولأاو ينفظولما عم يطاعتلا في ةيبلسلاو ليلآا عيفترلا ةسايس اهنمض نم يتلا ةيميلعتلا مغر ،2021 ماع في كلذ نود ام لىإو 2020 ماع ًافظوم 55٦1 وحن لىإ 201٧ ماع 2082 نم نانبل في ميلعتلا يفظوم ددع ضفخنا ذإ ،ةلعتفلما ةيلالما ةمزلأا طغض سرادم مومع في حاجنلا ةبسن تغلبو ]...[ .مويلا ةيندتلما بسنلا لىع شرابلما رثلأا هل ناك ام وهو ،2020 ماع 3٧58٦ لىإ ٧102 ماع ًابلاط 3٦88 نم ةبلطلا ددع ةدايز لماعلأا فيصرت ةموكح في ةيبترلا ةرازو بسحب %9٧ ةصاخلاو ةيمسرلا ةينانبللا سرادلما مومع في حاجنلا ةبسن تبراق مايف ،%92.94 ،نانبل ىوتسم لىع »اورنولأا«
.يبلح سابع ةينانبللا (Source: Refugee Net: “A warning sit-in by the Palestinian Teachers Union in front of the UNRWA headquarters in Beirut”, July 5, 2022)
The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs reported about the increasing needs in Lebanon in April 2022:
“Based on the Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA) conducted by the REACH Initiative in December 2021, OCHA reported in 2022 that:
“Around 81 percent of PRL [Palestinian refugees in Lebanon] children were reportedly enrolled during the 2020-2021 school year. Among them, 3.8 percent reported that engagement in labour outside or in the home has consistently disrupted their learning. Additionally, almost 10 percent of PRL households with individuals being enrolled reported changing schools on account of affordability (e.g. shifted from private to public or UNRWA-schools) to adapt to new or increased barriers to accessing education during the 2020-2021 school year. [Footnote 178 on page 35] Among PRL, the number of enrolled children is around 34,000, 18,000 girls and 16,000 boys, all considered particularly vulnerable
Overall, almost 4 percent of PRL children out of those enrolled dropped out of school during the 2020-2021 school year. The main drivers for school drop-out are very similar to the ones reported by Lebanese parents and include COVID-19-related school closures at 37.7 percent and inability to afford the education related costs (including tuition fees, learning materials and transportation), lack of interest / priority from parents and child working to support family, all at 25 percent.”
(Source: OCHA, “Increasing Humanitarian Needs in Lebanon, April 2022”, 14 April 2022, p. 27)
UNRWA describes its educational services to eligible individuals as follows:
“ C. Education Services
1. School education
UNRWA provides elementary and preparatory education services (ages 6-15) in all Fields and secondary education in the Lebanon Field only (ages 16-18). The Education Technical Instruction for Admission to UNRWA Schools (ETI No 1/2005) addresses conditions, cases and exceptions in respect of admission to UNRWA schools. UNRWA’s Education services are available to all categories of persons specified in section III of these Instructions.
2. Vocational education
Technical and vocational education and training are provided through eight vocational training centres (three in the West Bank, one in the Gaza Strip, one in Lebanon, two in Jordan and one in the Syrian Arab Republic) to enable students become productive citizens and contributors to the well being of their communities. Two kinds of vocational services are provided by the centres: trade and technical.
- Admission to the vocational (trade) courses requires successful completion of the basic education cycle (9 or 10 years of schooling, depending on the system applied in the host country). The trade courses offered include automotive engineering, building and woodwork, climatization and sanitation, electrical power, electronics, metal fabrication and machining, and traditional women’s crafts.
- Admission to the technical courses requires successful completion of 12 years of schooling; courses offered cover specializations in the fields of architecture and art, commerce, computer technology, electronic engineering, home management, paramedical services, surveying and civil engineering.
- Admission to training centres is further covered by the Education Technical Instructions (ETI No. 13/2001). Due to the limited number of places available in each course in each Field, Field Offices issue further instructions on a yearly basis to cover the admission for each course.
[...]
3.2 Teacher training Given the shortage in Lebanon of University graduates who can become teachers UNRWA provides two-year teacher training services only in that Field. Students admitted to this programme should have a general secondary school certificate. Admission is further covered by the Education Technical Instructions (ETI No. 5/1998).
4. Placement and career guidance UNRWA established a Placement and Career Guidance Office (PCGO) to assist graduates from all the Agency’s training centres and educational institutions to secure suitable jobs in the local and regional labour market. The function of the PCGO includes career guidance and counselling services for students at schools”
(Source: UNRWA, “Consolidated Eligibility and Registration Instructions”, 1 January 2009, pp. 23-25)
The main education providers may differ depending on learner’s area of residence, as this UNRWA survey regarding Palestinian Refugees from Syria living in Lebanon pointed out:
“PRS children heavily depend on UNRWA for their elementary and preparatory (primary) education, with 81.8 percent attending its primary schools instead of government schools (12.7 per cent) or private schools (5.5 per cent). […] While camp and non-camp dwellers share more or less the same educational profile, their main educational services provider varies significantly. Camp dwellers who live relatively close to UNRWA facilities are more dependent on the UNRWA education system. More specifically, 98.1 percent of PRS camp children (mostly in the 6-15 age group) attend UNRWA schools at elementary and preparatory levels compared to 69.2 percent of PRS non-camp children. Outside camps, 26.8 percent of PRS children are enrolled in government schools and 7.9 per cent private schools. UNRWA in Lebanon also provides secondary education (up to the baccalaureate) and remains the leading provider of services in that education cycle, providing education to 69 per cent of PRS secondary schools students, ahead of government (19.7 per cent) and private (11.3 per cent) schools.”
(Source: UNRWA, “Socio-economic Survey on Palestine Refugees from Syria Living in Lebanon”, 28 April 2021, p. 33)