{"id":20098,"date":"2020-02-21T10:00:31","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T09:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sboverseas.org\/?p=20098"},"modified":"2020-02-21T10:00:31","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T09:00:31","slug":"not-just-a-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sboverseas.org\/nl\/not-just-a-school\/","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: Not Just a School – The case for prioritising the educational space for refugee support in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Executive summary of seven years of field notes supporting refugees in Beirut, Saida and Arsal<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n


Written and published by the Brussels headquarters office in collaboration with the Lebanon Field mission of <\/em>Soutien Belge OverSeas<\/em><\/a>, a registered Belgian non-profit humanitarian organisation (association sans but lucrative, ASBL) dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to refugees and victims of conflict. Our operations are divided into the following three activities: education, emergency aid and empowerment. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Written and published by the Brussels headquarters office in collaboration with the Lebanon Field mission of <\/em>Soutien Belge OverSeas<\/em><\/a>, a registered Belgian non-profit humanitarian organisation (association sans but lucrative, ASBL) dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to refugees and victims of conflict. Our operations are divided into the following three activities: education, emergency aid and empowerment. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since even before the beginning of the\nSyrian conflict, displaced Syrians have fled to Lebanon in order to escape from\nwar. The conflict has been ongoing for almost 10 years \u2013 meaning that the\nyoungest children and new-borns who left the country at the beginning of the\nwar, are now at least 10 years old. Some of these children, most of whom never\nstarted school in Syria, reached Lebanon with their families and have never\nexperienced a classroom \u2013 instead their day-to-day consists of through the\nstreets of an urban camp, or across villages of tents, on their way to working\non the street, rather than going to school. For this reason, SB OverSeas in\n2013 opened an education and empowerment centre in one of the largest informal\nrefugee settlements in Beirut in order to create places for these children to\nfinally enter the classroom. It is the lives of these children, their siblings,\nfamilies and wider community that is the subject of this report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After working with displaced Syrians for over\nseven years, this report is a collection of field notes from our three\neducational centres that describe not only the context of and why we operate\nour projects as we do, but also to primarily answer the question of how to we\nunderstand the impact of education on a community in a crisis and protracted\ndisplaced situation as is the case of refugees in Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This report examines the profiles of the\ndisplaced individuals along with the context of their physical environment,\ntheir psycho-social placement as well as situational challenges related to life\nin Lebanon as a refugee. This discussion is rooted in on-the-ground reports\nfrom SB OverSeas\u2019 centres in Beirut, Arsal and Saida. In this context we can\nunderstand education centres as a platform for a more wholistic support\napproach for displaced individuals and communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When faced with a crisis situation,\nhumanitarian networks respond with what has been long considered basic needs of\nhumankind: food, water and shelter. These are vital to an individual\u2019s physical\nsurvival in any situation and has been understood as the priority for aid.\nMaterial aid, however, remains purely in the physical realm and while physical\nsafety is at stake for individuals fleeing conflict, their state of mind and\nemotional support is just as vital to their wellbeing. It is with this\nunderstanding that SB OverSeas has been operating for seven years in emergency\ncontexts through providing a space that not only supports physical wellbeing\nbut addresses the mental and emotional state of individuals. Given the\nphysically threatening circumstances in war and protracted displacement, this\nmission as a priority can be difficult to understand. This report aims to use\nwhat we have learned in the past seven years to explain the importance of such\nan approach as well as further highlight the challenges that this community\nfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This report has two goals and therefore\nimplements the following two-fold methodology: first, creating an executive\nsummary of field notes from our operations for the past seven years, which\nincludes anecdotal reports and quantitative data from past collections and\nsmall-scale surveys conducted by SB OverSeas as well as larger-scale surveys\nand assessments by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; second, using\nthe information to understand what role an education and empowerment centre\nplays in a refugee community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis begins with a discussion of the profiles of the camp, the situation posed to our students and the community and barriers to education widely. Following this contextualisation, we look at the modality of the school and in what ways the wholistic nature of our education and empowerment centres tackle not only the need for education but also take on a wider developmental approach.  The centres then become spaces of both emergency support and long-term development for displaced communities. Through the analysis of this nexus, it becomes evident that there is a need for this kind of  broad and community-based educational support, particularly for women and youth, in a context of prolonged displacement and precarity, as it not only accounts for immediate needs but is building on the community for their future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living situation<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Lebanese government and UNHCR estimate that\nthe country hosts 1.5 million Syrians. One in three people in the country are\nrefugees, whether Syrian or Palestinian, making Lebanon the country with the\nhighest ratio of refugees per capita. Demographically, this group is very\nyoung: 53% of the population are under 18; most households consist of 2 adults\nand either 1 or 2 children from 1 to 17 years old and one child younger than 6\nyears old, making the average household either 4 or 5 members. After years of\ndisplacement, refugee households suffer from increasingly limited economic\nresources with an estimated 73% of Syrian families living below the poverty\nline[1]<\/a>. Where\ndisplaced Syrians live in Lebanon greatly varies from location to location. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most refugee households are not located in\nformal camps nor are they well-resourced, as one would conventionally imagine a\nrefugee camp. We often imagine a camp as a wide-open space with UNHCR tents\nlined up, housing thousands in an organised way; perhaps there\u2019s a school in\nthe camp for children, some recreational activities for adults, and of course\nsupport and basic needs services like sanitation and psychological support. Of\ncourse, there are camps in Lebanon that follow this approach, the settlement in\nArsal being one of them. However, due to Lebanon\u2019s long history of hosting\ndisplaced groups, communities have found shelter in a variety of different\nlocations and types of accommodation. Some have been formally designated and\ngoverned by authorities and ones that are not at all overseen by a government\nentity. In order to understand the dynamics in these camps, we will look at the\nthree locations where for the past eight years, SB OverSeas has been operating education\nand empowerment centres. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shatila:\nA city within a city<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In South Beirut, the Bukra Ahla (\u201cTomorrow\nwill be better\u201d) Education and Empowerment centre is situated just next  to the Shatila camp. While it was indeed a\n\u201ccamp\u201d set up by UNWRA in 1949, since then it has experienced a massacre during\nthe Lebanese civil war that has resulted in the lack of Lebanese governance of\nthe area. Informally, it is governed by Palestinian militias. In composition,\nit is a grouping of informal and dilapidated structures that have been further\nbuilt up vertically in order to provide shelter. This ad-hoc expansion has\nincreased exponentially since Syrians displaced by the crisis have moved in and\nbegan to rent houses from Palestinians. Electric wires and water pipes are\nstrung between buildings in order to get power and water to homes. As there are\nno formal governance structures in Shatila, the provision of power and water is\nall done informally and without payment, but it still comes from the city infrastructure.\nSuch a set up results in a dangerous and precarious situation of increased\npossibility of accidents due to exposed wires, or families having cuts in\naccess to water and electricity \u2013 beyond just the regular electricity cuts from\nthe Lebanese infrastructure that occur across the country. Average rent in\nShatila is about 400 dollars for a room 20 to 55 square metres; an expensive\nprice that forces many families to live together in the small space. Syrian\nfamilies are willing to pay this price, however, as it is one of the only\nplaces in the city to avoid security checks for residency papers. A number of militias\nthat operate in the camp, as informal governance. There are others that also deal\nin drugs and weapons\u2014something they can get away with being in a space\nungoverned by official authorities. Nothing is illegal, and the camp becomes even\nmore dangerous. Therefore, using the term \u201ccamp\u201d is quite misleading; Shatila\ncan be better understood as a city within a city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The residents of Shatila have created the\ncity within the city as a means for survival. Within, there are food vendors\nthat make traditional Syrian food, coffee and tea, food markets, vendors for\nclothing, kitchen supplies, housewares, butchers, fish market and even\nlivestock for sale. The streets are not wide enough for cars, but bicycles and\nmotorcycles travel throughout the narrow alleys of Shatila. Indeed, at night\nthese alleys do not have any lighting, making them even more dangerous to\ntravel throughout. For these reasons, the residents of Shatila are trapped, in\nseveral dimensions. First, many are immobile inside Shatila and the immediately\nsurrounding area. Particularly for those newly-arrived residents who have no\nidentification documents from Lebanese authorities, but also for those who\ncannot renew their documents therefore carry expired papers.[2]<\/a> The\nsecond layer of immobility is within Shatila itself. Many women and children do\nnot leave their homes past sundown for fear of walking in the alleys in the\ndark, as there has been high rates of violence against women and increased\ndanger at night in general.[3]<\/a> Some\nwomen, particularly widows with children, are particularly vulnerable to\nviolence and therefore even during the day some women do not leave their homes\nand rely on male family members or their children for support. Moreover,\nincreasing scrutiny of Syrians at checkpoints and targeting in the city of\nBeirut has furthermore immobilised the residents of Shatila. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsal:\nA town in limbo<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In contrast with the urbanity of Shatila,\nArsal is an isolated town in northeast Lebanon next to the Syrian border in the\nBaalbak District. It has a population of 35,000 people and reaches a height of\n1400-2000 meters above sea level. This town houses more than 120,000 displaced\nSyrians, the majority of whom are are women and children from Qalamoun and\nQusayr and a number of Syrian border towns. Most refugees in Arsal live in\nInformal Tented Settlements as well as in rented apartments or shops.  For instance the nine refugee camps in the\narea of the \u201cArsal Project\u201d education and empowerment centre hosts more than\n750 Syrian families, split in smaller settlements, such as the \u201cCanaan Camp\u201d\ncounting 60 families, and larger ones as the \u201cMin hona mar Al Suriyin\u201d\n(literally \u201cSyrians passed from here\u201d), hosting 155 families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the living situation of refugees in\nthis town more-so fit the traditional sense of how we understand a camp. When\nyou enter the town of Arsal, there are three checkpoints to cross, but none\nwithin the town. However, the military will enter the town to do random check\non the homes, which is risky for most of the Syrians living in the town as most\ndo not have residence documents. This insecurity has increased since the\ndecision of the higher Defence Council to dismantle shelters built in materials\nother than timber and plastic sheeting, putting extra pressure on the already\nprecarious life of the Syrians. The security challenges in the area, which is\nlabelled as red zone, induced many NGOS to rather focus on other, more\naccessible, regions, making Arsal a \u201cforgotten limbo\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The local community in Arsal has for years\nbeen one facing economic hardship, as the financial situation in Lebanon hits\nthis region quite hard. The relationship between the local community and\nSyrians has been varied. Due to scarcity of work there is sometimes some\ntension, though most Syrians work informally in construction and mountain\nmining. Early marriage between Syrian girls and Arsali men is also common due\nto resource scarcity, which is discussed in detail in a later section.\nMoreover, the support from UNHCR to refugee families in the region has shrunk\nsince cuts have happened in 2018. This support is necessary in order for\nSyrians to pay for the rent and utilities for the apartment or tents that they\nlive in. Average income of a family in Arsal is less than 75,000 (about 50 USB)\nbut only if the man is working or receiving UNHCR cash card, and rent is 50,000\nLebanese lira, (about 35 USD), leaving little money for food or other expenses.\nThe Syrian families, utilising some of the few resources they brought with them\nwhen they left their homes have opened small businesses as well as clinics that\nhave contributed to the developed Arsal from a small village to the town as it\nis today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Informal\nshelter in Saida<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Minutes away from the Lebanese coast in an\nunfinished building once destined to become a university is a community that\nserves a small village of Syrian refugees. In Saida (also called Sidon) the\nthird largest city in Lebanon, a structure that was meant to become the Ouzai\nUniversity and hospital but in 2012 was abandoned and left half-built due to\nfunding and authorisation issues. Some of the Syrians who were working on the\nconstruction of the university found themselves and their families in need of a\nplace to live following their displacement due to conflict in their town in\nSyria. Therefore, seeing as the building was bare but could accommodate this\ncommunity in need, the families found their home there. As it was not finished,\nthere existed the basic structure of the building, but no proper windows,\nelectricity or plumbing. Therefore, the community with the support of aid\nagencies who provided some basic material support in order to better facilitate\nliveability in the space, such as creating dividers between spaces to\naccommodate and separate spaces for more families. While at first the owners of\nthe building allowed the families to live in the building as the UNHCR was\npaying for the rent, in 2015 they wanted to restart building the university and\nasked for the residents, who had created a home there for 3 years, to leave.\nThis effort was thwarted with the support of the Ministry of Social Affairs who\nintervened and created a deal with the building owner to allow for the families\nto remain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the shelter has been home to 1,500\nmen, women, children and youth living in a 4-floor building, with one room for\neach family and a shared bathroom on each floor. On the ground floor is where\nyou will find the SB OverSeas education and empowerment centre. Like the case\nof Shatila, many residents do not often leave the shelter due to violence\nagainst women, discriminatory acts against Syrians, a lack of documentation and\nfear of being stopped at the check point which one is required to pass through\nto leave the city. Subsequently, the shelter has also taken on characteristics\nof its own small neighbourhood, in that produce and other food items are sold\nin small shops in the shelter opened up by some of the residents who had more\nresources than others.  The small number\nof men who can find informal work outside of the shelter bring needed materials\nin from the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next section, we will discuss whom\nof the residents of Shatila are part of our community at the Bukra Ahla centre\nand what challenges they face, whose lives within the camp we are able to\nimpact in the Arsal settlement, and how we engage with the community at the\nOuzai shelter in Saida. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our students: Children, youth and\nadult women & men<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our education and\nempowerment centres touch many \u201cstudents\u201d in each community. Our students,\nhowever, are not only the children and youth that are in the classes learning\nthe Lebanese curriculum; they are also the adult women and men in our English\nclasses, the youth and women in our life skills classes and part of our\nempowerment programme. Therefore, we interact with every member of the\ncommunity and in this section we will discuss the challenges that our students\nface that we have learned from our daily interactions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the\nmajority of our students are Syrian, we also support Palestinian refugees\nliving in Lebanon, particularly in Beirut as Shatila was set up as a camp for\ndisplaced Palestinians.[4]<\/a>  More than half of Syrian refugees in Lebanon\nare minors, under the age of 18; this amounts to almost half a million children\nin prolonged displacement and precarity.[5]<\/a>\nMany of these children have lived their entire lives in a state of\ndisplacement, having been born in Lebanon. Those individuals are primarily\nyouth, often above the age of 14 which is the cut off for mandated public\nprimary school. Youth with a low level of English or Arabic, respective to\ntheir age, are unlikely to be accepted in the formal education system. In 2018 SB OverSeas conducted a survey<\/a> with 220 young boys and girls between\nthe ages of 14 and 18 (at the time) in Arsal and Beirut. In that survey we\nfound that 65% of young refugee boys in Arsal are idle, meaning that they are\nnot in school, nor working nor married. In Beirut 16% of young boys are idle.\nThis indicates that isolation, poverty and non-valid residency has a big impact\non the lives of young people in particular. Youth above the age of 14, and\ntherefore above age for primary school, often do not have access to formal\nschooling. From this same study, we found that 71% of young boys surveyed in\nBeirut are working, compared to 20% in Arsal. For girls in particular the rate\nof early marriage increases as economic opportunity for their families\ndecrease; in Beirut 6 percent of girls are married by the age of 18, compared\nto 16% of girls in Arsal. Economic reasons are the primary trigger for early\nmarriage, but this will be discussed further in the subsequent section. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Households of\nSyrians living in Lebanon vary in size, but according to the UNHCR are on\naverage made up of 5 individuals. In the governorate of Baalbek where Arsal is\nlocated, 25% of households are headed by women, meaning women who are widows or\nwhose husbands are not living in Lebanon. These households also have on average\n3 or more dependents. These women struggle to meet the high cost of living, as\nthey lack sufficient income to ensure food and shelter for them and their\nfamilies. Women and girls are at an increased risk of facing a myriad of\ndiscriminatory actions, as well as being particularly susceptible to sexual and\ngender-based violence. Other factors that impact life include individuals with\nchronic illnesses, physical and mental disability, temporary illnesses and\nother serious medical conditions.[6]<\/a>\nThose that lived through conflict and displacement have experienced violence,\nloss or witnessed other traumatic events that impact their psychology.\nMoreover, living precariously in either of the three aforementioned living\nsituations also has many negative effects on well-being and mental health, not\nonly for children but is particularly concerning for individuals still in\ndevelopment. Legal status is also a stressor for many of our students in that\nhaving valid residency document has become more difficult. The UNHCR reports\nthat a mere 22% of Syrians in Lebanon older than 15 years old have valid\nresidency and that percentage is even lower for youth and women.[7]<\/a>\nMore generally, children face a multiplicity of challenges that are related to\neconomic depravity and their precarious displacement. These include primarily\nearly marriage and child labour.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Child labour<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As poverty among\nSyrian families in Lebanon increases, many are compelled to take their children\nout of school to work to help meet the families\u2019 basic needs. According to UNHCR,\n2.6% of the nearly half a million Syrian children (between 5 \u2013 17 years old) in\nLebanon are working.[8]<\/a>  Often, these children  work \nlong  days during school hours\nfor  a \nsmall  salary.[9]<\/a>\nWith one-third currently working, adolescent boys are the most vulnerable to\nchild labour. One-third of those adolescents working have entered the labour\nmarket before the age of 12, in areas \nsuch  as agriculture, construction\nand work in small shops. Most do not attend school while working.[10]<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Shatila,\nchildren find work in shops like butchers, grocery stores and small food stalls\ndoing cheap unskilled labour like stocking shelves, cleaning or emptying boxes.\nThe small income they receive for this work (amounting to in some cases only\nabout $40 a week)[11]<\/a>\ncontributes to the family\u2019s ability to survive in the expensive city of Beirut.\nAlthough older boys and adult men find informal work, the salary from those\njobs is often not enough to provide for the needs of the entire household.\nMoreover, households headed by women often rely on their children\u2019s labour or\nbegging on the street for a major portion of their resources, as it is much\nmore difficult for women to find a source of income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early\nmarriage<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Early marriage\u2019 refers to individuals\nentering into a formal marriage contract or an informal union without having\nreached the legal age of marriage. Moreover, if we consider that a child (an\nindividual under the care of a parental guardian) cannot freely and consciously\nexpress his\/her consent to marry, early marriage can be considered as\nequivalent to forced marriage in all cases.[12]<\/a> While\nthis issue also affects the Palestinian and Lebanese populations in the\ncountry, early marriage is most prevalent among the Syrian population in\nLebanon[13]<\/a> where\nabout 27 % of Syrian girls 15 to 19 years old are married.[14]<\/a>\nIndeed, as studies have shown, there is a strong correlation between the Syrian\ncrisis and its consequent displacement of people and the rising rate of early\nmarriage, due to the poor conditions in which Syrian refugees live.[15]<\/a> Lebanon\nhas not enforced a civil code that regulates personal status matters, including\nearly marriage. Rather, different religious courts recognize several separate\npersonal status laws, with some setting the minimum age of marriage at no more\nthan nine years old. Some others set the minimum age anywhere between 14 and\n18.[16]<\/sup><\/a>\nMoreover, marriages between Syrian girls and Lebanese or refugee men\nare not systematically registered, with 27% of marriages without\ndocumentation, and 21% that have documentation but not from an official source.[17]<\/a> For\nsome families, early marriage serves as a way of protection against sexual\nharassment or violence by men in the camps or urban neighbourhoods. For others,\nit reflects an economic struggle as early marriage means feeding one less\nperson in a household.[18]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barriers to school<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The social\nexclusion, insecurity and poverty of the entire community of displaced\nindividuals and families prevent a generation of Syrians from receiving  necessary \neducation,  placing particularly\nyoung people at a  disadvantage  and  at\nrisk of being pushed into child labour and early marriage.[19]<\/a>  These are two commonly named factors contributing\nto children being out of school, in addition to the cost of education and the\nneed to stay at home.[20]<\/a> While these are among the most evident barriers to education, this\nsection will discuss other external and internal factors that influence a young\nperson\u2019s access to schooling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accessing\neducation in Lebanon<\/a><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The ministry of education and the state\nsystem in Lebanon has not been able to directly provide education to all Syrian\nchildren of school age (5 to 18 years). The number of Syrians estimated within\nthis age group is over 661,000 people with 48% of these young people still\nbeing out of school completely.  This gap\npersists despite the efforts such as UNHCR and Lebanese authorities running programmes\nlike the Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP; 7-9 years old),  Basic Literacy and Numeracy (BLN; 10-14 years\nold, with more than two years of missed school) and Basic Literacy and Numeracy\nYouth (BLN\/Youth; over 14 years old, with more than two years of missed school),\nas well informal education facilitated by NGOs. \nThe ALP serves as a path to public education for many Syrian children,\nbut is one step in that process as there are different levels within the\nprogramme that must be passed before reaching the public school.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1: Of the total number of children aged 3-17 not enrolled at school, the reasons given for not being enrolled in school that hold percentages 1.0% or more (UNHCR – Vulnerability Assessment).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the UNHCR\u2019s 2019 Vulnerability\nAssessment, the most frequent reason for not being in school was that the child\nwas not school aged, primarily for children 3 to 5 years old. Therefore, it is\nevident that for parents, early childhood education is not viewed as a need or\npriority. Major challenges include the cost of transportation and education\ncosts, meaning the cost of getting to the school and having the materials\nnecessary for students. Often the <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018second shift\u2019 for Syrian students is late\nin the evening and therefore poses another risk for children and families. Another\nelement was children not being allowed to enrol in school, due to reasons that\nwere not expanded upon in the study. However, from our field experience we have\nmade several observations. One of the reasons for schools not accepting\nstudents to be enrolled include not having adequate documentation for\nenrolment. This documentation is not necessarily residence papers from Lebanese\nauthorities, but rather having their birth registered in Syria or in Lebanon as\na form of identification. As noted in the previous section, registration of\nchild births still poses a challenge. Additionally, there is violence and\nbullying between Syrian and Lebanese children, as well as violent\ndiscriminatory behaviour by Lebanese teachers in some cases.[21]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ALP programmes run by the UNHCR and\nMEHE do accept children into the programme several times a year, but access to\nthat enrolment process is difficult and potential students must pass a test to\nsecure their place. This test is based on the Lebanese curriculum, which is\ndifferent than what is taught in Syria, which causes discrepancies between the\nlevel of schooling a student has completed in Syria and what level they will be\nplaced in schools in Lebanon. Figure 1 shows that more than 2% of students out\nof school cited difficulties with the curriculum as a deterrent. This change\nalso can have an impact on the mental health, self-esteem and subsequently the\nacademic performance of the student, particularly in a test setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interpersonal\nrestraints<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Some students have missed out on education\nin both Syria and Lebanon and are now no longer school-aged.  The only \navailable  option  is \nnon-formal  education,  however, \nmany  NGOs providing non-formal\neducation do not accept students older than 14 years old.[22]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One hurdle Syrian students are likely to\nface once they go to public school is the language of instruction. All core\nsubjects, such as science, mathematics and life skills, are taught in either\nEnglish or French (depending on the area), in stark contrast with what they\nwere used to in Syria, where all subjects were taught in Arabic. Another\nbarrier for parents wanting to enrol their children in public school is the\ncost of transportation. Although UNICEF organizes buses for certain areas each\nyear, some parents prefer to send their children to nearby non-formal education\ncentres, as they are often established inside or next to camps. In addition,\nparents are worried about corporal punishment and the lack of attention in\npublic schools.[23]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of our students have missed a year or\ntwo of school in Lebanon due to the war and\/or displacement from their homes.\nThese students cannot join the year of school which matches their age. If they\njoin the year which is right for their age it will be very hard for them to\nfollow and understand the material easily. The number of adolescent girls who have received little education or none\nis high in the community we serve. Moreover, the mental health of many students\nis affected by their years of displacement and life under threat. For example,\nin the centres the students often misbehave as a way to receive attention in\nthe classroom. This behaviour is disruptive in a school setting, but is an\nindication of a wider personal issue with the pupil that often stems from their\nhome situation. Some students have never been in a classroom setting and\ntherefore struggle with returning to normalcy in this setting, evidenced by not\nyet knowing how to behave in a classroom, being disruptive or not being able to\nfocus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As discussed in the previous section, early\nmarriage poses a serious barrier to a girl\u2019s education in Lebanon, as most\ngirls stop attending school once married, especially after they become\npregnant. Since education is essential for the prevention of this practice, as\nwell as for fostering women\u2019s empowerment, their desertion of school is of\nconcern. Some of them are also reluctant to get married before finishing their\nstudies, expressing during our self-development activities their will to be\nfree to choose their future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Centres: multi-faceted\ncommunity spaces<\/a>   <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When public schools are not able to\novercome these barriers to education, \nnon-formal  programs  are \nvital  in  ensuring \nchildren  remain engaged  and \ncontinue  their  learning, rather  than getting \ndiscouraged.  Since  the \nstart  of  the conflict \nin  Syria, non-formal  education \nhas been an  important  element of \nthe humanitarian response in Lebanon, now serving a twofold purpose.\nFirst, education provided by informal structures that follow the Lebanese\ncurriculum serves as a stepping-stone to public education for students who have\nmissed out on important years of education.[24]<\/sup><\/a>\nSB OverSeas\u2019 three education and empowerment centres are more than just\nschools. In addition to informal education, we provide psychosocial support\nservices and small-scale material aid, especially including winter clothes,\nmattresses, blankets and diapers, as well as work with the community to address\nand overcome barriers to education.  By\ndoing so, we are aiding the community via the school rather than through more\ntraditional humanitarian means, but rather by a network of community support. Through our centres we aim to tackle\nthree different problems: lack of access to formal education and difficulties\nin catching up with the Lebanese curriculum, limited opportunities for refugee\nyouth, scarce economic and empowerment opportunities for women and the large\nneed for psychosocial support due to the circumstances the community has\nundergone as well as current struggles. This section\nwill discuss how in these centres we are able to address the challenges posed\nto this group of people, related to education, mental health, awareness, access\nto basic needs in a way that builds a community with dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Informal education<\/a> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The non-formal\neducation programme at our centres serves students from the age of early\nchildhood education to youth vocational and skills training. In 2019, 151 of\nstudents from our classrooms went to the ALP after passing a test on their\ncompetency level. However, there are several steps before being integrated into\nthe public school system in order to meet the level of the Lebanese students. Following\ntheir time in ALP, 53 of students we prepared for the ALP entered public\nschools. The other 98 students continued to a higher level within the ALP for\nmore support and preparation required before entering the public school (i.e.\nadvancing from level 3 to level 4) and some students do not succeed the year\nand must repeat a level. Therefore it is necessary to prepare the students for\nthis process, in order to accelerate the time in the ALP. When students are\nenrol in our classrooms, we verify the age and family circumstances of each\nchild. New students joining the program will take a series of brief academic\nevaluations in order to assess their level and knowledge and place them in the\ncorrect learning group. To track progress of our students and effectiveness of\nthe program, we require them to take tests every month.  In order to solve this critical problem so\nthat no child misses or stays lagging behind in comparison to the students who\nare enrolled in the Lebanese public school system, we came up with the solution\nof merging two years of schooling into one. This catch-up system comprises of\none year of schooling compressed into five months and the same applies for the\nfollowing year. In this period, we focus specifically on language and Maths.\nThe students are given Arabic, English\/French and Maths lessons by trained and\nqualified teachers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of our\ndifferent centres operate with a slightly different focus. In Saida, the\nstudents are attending public school but the level is very basic and we provide\na supplemental active-learning programme needed for the students to succeed in\nthe public school. In Arsal and Beirut, the students are engaged in creative\nlearning methods in order to reach a level to enter the public school. In all\ncentres, the classes are focused on an active approach, as the students are new\nto the classroom setting and find it difficult to focus if they are not\nconstantly engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We enrol\nadolescent Syrian girls and boys in academic programs as well, including\nEnglish or French, Arabic, Science, and Maths, and\/or follow an extracurricular\ntrack, offering computer and software skills, life skills sessions and or other\nrelevant workshops. English or French classes and other vocational trainings are\nalso available to adult women from the camps who express interest in attending\nthe classes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the\nimprovement of the quality of education and support but also the personal and\nprofessional growth of the majority-Syrian teachers in the centre, we also organize\ntrainings and workshops aimed at recognizing the qualities and abilities of\nchildren according to age group and academic level and help our professors\ngaining active-learning methods and integrating appropriate pedagogical changes\ninto their practice. These trainings include the basics of child protection and\nclassroom management, as well as team building-focused workshops to help our\nteachers develop new ideas, understanding, and techniques to improve the\noverall quality of education in our school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mental health, community outreach and creating\npositive space<\/a> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Each centre has a\ntrained local psychologist on site who is a reference point not only for mental\nhealth concerns of the students, but is also connected to the community and can\naddress issues of well-being via addressing a child\u2019s needs as a student. When\nstudents are misbehaving, skipping class or other issues arise, the teachers\ncan send the students to the psychologist who then assesses their behaviour,\nbeing sure to keep in mind their situation. The psychologist gets to know the\nsituation of the students and their families well, something that is vital to providing\nappropriate support. The students that misbehave are often ones with other\nunderlying trauma or personal challenges that have not been addressed or they\ndo not have the tools to overcome. Moreover, seeking support from a\npsychologist or therapist can in some cases be taboo, and therefore delivering\nthis support in the context of a school helps to overcome that barrier. Additionally,\nwhen students are not coming to class or not able to focus in class, the\npsychologist as well as project manager and teachers will make visits to the\nfamily, offering some support and a space to get to know their situation and\nunderstand how to best support the student and the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to working with the community\naround our students, we also work with families who have not yet sent their\nchildren to school, by doing awareness campaigns about the need for education\nfor youngsters. While our psychologists and teachers are understanding of the\nreasons why families send their children to work or to be married instead of\nschool, our awareness campaigns also delicately target this barrier to\neducation. For the youth that work, we work with their families to encourage\nthem to come to the centre to take some math classes so they know how to count\nthe money that they earn. We adapt the shifts in the school for when the\nchildren work, because we cannot reasonably ask for the children to stop working.\nTherefore, it\u2019s best to accommodate the classes so that they can both work and\nparticipate in the classes. Engaging with the family is the cornerstone of\nensuring quality education for students. We have learned that even if a child\nis passionate about going to school and learning, if the family is not also in\nagreement that this is the best move for their future, it will be difficult for\nthe child to do well in school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cases of early marriage of girls in our\ncentres are growing as those children that came from Syria at age 5, are now 12\nso they are the subject of early marriage. For teenage girls, getting married\nand not being able to continue school is often a reality. While in some cases\nwe cannot convince the family to not marry their daughters, we can work towards\nconvincing the families and new husbands that the girl can continue going to\nschool after their marriage. To provide a space for these girls and at the same time with the objective of\nempowering our students, we launched a Literacy and Numeracy course as part of\nthe youth programme. Within this programme, the youth take classes in\nself-awareness, English, Arabic, Maths, basic IT skills and self-confidence to\nhelp build their personality. This course not only helps them to learn better\nand faster, but it helps them to become more independent. Becoming literate\nopens new doors to seek more knowledge, to become more open-minded and\nambitious, and make better decisions for one\u2019s self, even when many decisions\nabout their life have already been made for them. Additionally, this programme\nkeeps the girls coming to the centre, during the difficult time in their life\nwhen they first get married. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Touching every aspect of the community, Syrian\nfamilies & local Lebanese<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Throughout all our centres, we have engaged\nthe local community in every aspect. Many of the teachers and instructors in\nthe centres live in the communities that the centres serve. When we look for teachers,\nwe look in the community for individuals who have some background in teaching\nor who are wiling to learn. We prioritise the training and support of these\nteachers as well, so they are able to develop themselves personally and\nprofessionally as it is key for the support and development of the community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empowering women\nis at the foundation of our project. One of the main comforts mentioned by the\nwomen in our programs is the safe environment where they can speak freely with\npeers that are encountering similar difficulties and struggles. An atmosphere\nof support, understanding and open communication is promoted at all moments of\ngathering by all persons involved in running the centre and teaching the women.\nThe women\u2019s space and classes taught, are run by professionals capable of\nteaching the level of skill necessary to be employed. Women have the\npossibility to attend language classes as well as computer sessions and sewing\nor crochet workshops. To help them overcome their economic struggles (although\non a small scale) we market and sell products made by the women, mainly linen\ntote bags they sew and crocheted dolls. The proceeds go directly back to the\nwoman who created the product. In addition, we offer a clothes repair\nopportunity during which the women in the program can come and fix or make\nclothes under supervision of a trainer. The women in the cash-for-work\nprogramme can also take classes to learn English, as many of the information\ndistributed in public life (news, medication, etc.) is written in English.\nPsychosocial group or individual support sessions, as well as a nursery teacher\nto mind the women\u2019s children during the sessions are available, contributing to\nthe creation of a safe women-only space within the centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our centres also engage with the local\nLebanese and Palestinian community, in order to create a platform for\ncommunication to understand tensions and issues as well as to allow these\ngroups to learn about common problems between them. We use creative means in\norder for individuals in the community to express themselves and to vocalise\nissues that are taboo or otherwise difficult to talk about. These can include\nvarious forms of art therapy that provide a medium to build trust. For example,\nthrough a collective theatre activity we discovered abuse, black-market organ\nsales, attempted suicide and drug abuse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Education is a platform for wholistic\nsupport of individuals and community. As a cornerstone of the community, our\neducation and empowerment centres provide solace and balance for a community in\na tumultuous and protracted situation of displacement. Primarily, education is\nvital to supporting individuals in this situation in order to avoid the creation\nof a lost generation \u2013 a generation of young people that has lost access to\neducation and remains uneducated due to protracted conflict. This possibility\nis understood among the community and many do indeed prioritise education, but\nsome do not have the economic means to do so. These individuals and families\nwith fewer resources then make the decision for their children to work or be\nmarried in order to secure their basic needs and survival. We reach out to\nfamilies in this situation, as the public school system does not accommodate to\ntheir needs\u2014our centres are able to both allow them to do what their family\ndecides is necessary for their survival, but also allow them to remain in\nschooling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond schooling, however, the centres are\nhubs for change and hope for the future. While the individuals we work with are\nfacing a situation of deep uncertainty, through our programming we support them\nin making steps towards a future: <\/p>\n\n\n\n