Lebanon: Literacy for Refugees


Overview


This project aims to provide children in refugee communities in Lebanon — and in the underprivileged communities who host them — with a Bible-based literacy course designed to help them back into the formal education system.

The number of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Lebanon is now well above two million people. More than 50 per cent of these refugees are aged 17 or younger. Integrating these children into Lebanon’s school system is a challenge, as they face social, economic and bureaucratic obstacles, as well as language difficulties, particularly in science and math. Many don’t go back to formal education, because of these difficulties.

Education exclusion has negative implications for social wellbeing and exposes already vulnerable children to greater risks. This lack of education can reverberate for generations; these children will have more difficulty in meeting the physical, economic, social and political demands for reconstructing their countries. According to a study by Human Rights Watch in 2016, more than half of the nearly 500,000 school-aged Syrian children registered in Lebanon are not enrolled in formal education. Some of these children have never stepped inside a classroom

Statistics:

  • 50% of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Lebanon are aged 17 years old or younger
  • 500,000 school-aged Syrian children registered in Lebanon are not enrolled in formal education
  • 45% of project participants can read or write in Arabic
  • 2% of project participants can read or write in a language other than Arabic.

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