Lebanon's economy has been in freefall with its currency losing more than 90% of its value, fuelling inflation, wiping out savings, and pushing almost three in four of the nation's 6.7 million people into poverty.
Lebanese youngsters are paying a high price, with the U.N. estimating that one in 10 of the children pulled from school this past year have been put to work instead. That's 30,000 children estimated to have dropped out of school this past academic year as parents opt to send children to work or keep them home to save on school fees.
Many parents could not pay the bills, and the cost of transport and stationery supplies rose by at least 40% last year - even if lessons were free. Education costs mount up very quickly. School clothes is an example of hidden expenses.
The World Bank said 5% of all private schools closed between 2018 and 2021, as money pressures hit every stratum of society. In the 2020–2021 academic year, 55,000 students shifted from private to public schools, adding extra pressure on an already cash-strapped state sector.
The right to education is enshrined in the constitution and Lebanon also signed the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to provide quality education. Yet the reality on the ground has undermined that goal.
School's out - forever? Lebanese pull plug on education | Context
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