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Opportunity for an Educational Revolution
Lebanese Education Minister Dr. Tarek Majzoub. (Lebanese Education Ministry website)

Opportunity for an Educational Revolution

Nida Al-Watan, Lebanon, April 7

Despite the sincerity of Dr. Tarek Majzoub, the Lebanese education minister, the man is failing at his job. In a recent interview given to Murr Television, Majzoub totally failed to convince the Lebanese public that the state’s education system will prevail in this coronavirus crisis and that his ministry will safeguard the interests of students and school teachers. While I appreciate the minister’s insistence on protecting the lives of teachers and students by asking them to stay home, Majzoub does not seem to realize that his mission is not limited to experimenting with distance education. That is, His Excellency does not seem to understand that his mission is not to merely convert in-person learning to remote learning. Rather, it is to help a failing and under-resourced system overcome one of the most serious crises it has ever faced. Public education will be one of the strongest hit services in the post-corona world. Shrinking incomes will put enormous pressure on public schools and universities that are already fighting for limited revenues. To save these institutions, the government will have no choice but to offer them cash lifelines. In contrast, private schools will be able to overcome this crisis. They will continue to attract the wealthiest families in Lebanon. The ministry’s ultimate objective right now shouldn’t be to improve digital education. It should be to enable equal educational opportunities for Lebanon’s students, regardless of income level, and to adapt our primary and secondary education systems to the 21st century. Ultimately, of course, the goal is to increase our graduates’ competency in a globalized labor market. These are the real concerns that His Excellency should focus on, instead of taking to television studios and talking about “distance learning.” The coronavirus crisis may be unfortunate but it also hides an opportunity to turn a new page on the government’s handling of education. What Lebanon desperately needs, Your Excellency, is a well-functioning Education Ministry that is ready to implement a long-awaited reform in our country’s education system. This includes training and investing in teaching staff, the inclusion of local municipalities in shaping educational programs, the revamping of outdated curricula, and the introduction of new assessment methods.– Bechara Charbel (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)

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