{"id":1415,"date":"2026-06-12T12:57:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/border-schools-face-war-and-oblivion\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T08:45:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T08:45:44","slug":"border-schools-face-war-and-oblivion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/border-schools-face-war-and-oblivion\/","title":{"rendered":"Border schools face war and oblivion"},"content":{"rendered":"

As soon as the ceasefire was announced on November 27, 2024, Layal Youssef, the principal of the Naqoura Public School, set up a chair and table amidst the still-uncleared rubble and began registration. “I put a chair and table in the school and started registering students,” she said in a private interview. “No one could believe it.” The attacks hadn’t completely stopped, and destruction surrounded her on all sides, but she decided that the Naqoura school, in the border town most vulnerable to bombardment, wouldn’t wait. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Double the price of education<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/span>This picture is no exception. It sums up the reality of what happened in the frontline areas during two and a half years of continuous war: an absent or lagging state, and communities saving their children’s education with their own hands. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Students in the areas affected by the Israeli war on Lebanon paid a heavy price, particularly in the South and Nabatieh governorates. However, the damage inflicted on students in the frontline villages was compounded, as in-person education in their schools was almost entirely disrupted with the start of the offensive on October 8, 2023. They were forced to attend alternative schools after the vast majority of them were compelled to flee their villages in repeated displacements and brutal attempts at uprooting through the destruction of homes, schools, and sometimes entire villages. Yet, the will and remarkable determination of the people of the South, and their ability to withstand repeated wars and attacks for over 75 years, continue to drive them to return time and again to their lands and rebuild their lives, especially access to education, despite the neglect and marginalization on one hand, and the brutality on the other.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

This article examines the state of public schools and the distribution of students in war-affected areas, with a particular focus on schools located on what has become known as the “front line.” The analysis covers three distinct time periods: <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • After the ceasefire on November 27, 2024, during a year and a half of continuous attacks. <\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • During the expanded war in 2026, which lasted 44 days from March 2 to approximately April 14, 2026. <\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      • After April 14, 2026, when the attacks were concentrated specifically in the south, and up to the present day. <\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        <\/span>Phase One: Return to Rubble (November 2024 \u2013 March 2026) <\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h2>\n

        <\/span>This is the stage in which the ceasefire provided an opportunity to resume education in areas whose wounds have not yet healed.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        The number of students in schools closed for security reasons, all located in the Nabatieh Governorate, reached 5,209. The majority of these students did not return to their villages but settled in Nabatieh, Tyre, and the surrounding areas. Many of their school buildings were completely or partially destroyed, and no reconstruction funds were available. Minister of Education Dr. Rima Karami, through one of her advisors, responded with unusual candor: “There is nothing specific allocated for the South at the moment in this regard.” In this vacuum, the local community attempted to find some solutions. According to the Ministry of Education, the damaged schools were distributed across three tracks. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        The schools whose buildings were completely or partially damaged, totaling 20 official primary and secondary schools in the frontline villages, were distributed into 3 categories one year after the ceasefire, according to private information we obtained from the Ministry of Education: schools that did not open their doors, schools that opened in an alternative building inside the town, and schools that opened in an alternative building outside the town. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Schools where it was not possible to start teaching<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

        Education in these schools, both in person and remotely, came to a complete halt. Since the beginning of the war, the principals have demanded what they called “preserving the schools’ integrity.” The Ministry of Education granted their request, allowing the principal, the headmaster, and the computer technician to remain administratively attached to the school but to work at schools near their current residences. These individuals are responsible for preparing schedules detailing the distribution of students and teachers and compiling the necessary data about the school building in preparation for the resumption of classes when conditions permit. Students also attend schools near their homes. This situation applies to the schools in the villages of Al-Adisa. <\/span> <\/span>Kfarkela and Markaba (Marjeyoun District), and the Hosh El Sayed Ali School (Hermel District), i.e., only 4 schools and high schools. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Schools that offer in-person education in an alternative building within the same town<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h3>\n

        In some towns, primary and secondary schools adopted prefabricated rooms, as in the case of Mays al-Jabal, or buildings belonging to other institutions, such as the social welfare center in Houla, an unused building belonging to a private school in Khiam and Aitaroun, and an alternative building in the town of Qanafiz (Hermel district), which was damaged during clashes with armed groups on the border with Syria. These primary and secondary schools were distributed as follows: 6 in the Marjeyoun district, 1 in Hermel, for a total of 7 primary and secondary schools. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Schools that offer in-person education in an alternative building outside the town<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h3>\n

        Students from Aita al-Shaab, Ramia, and Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district have returned to their original schools, which have begun classes in alternative buildings, mostly in the city of Tyre, with only one located in the town of Al-Tayri within the same district, where most of the families unable to return are concentrated. A decision was also issued to include students from the Marwahin and Al-Dhahira schools. <\/span> <\/span>Yaroun and Al-Bustan, both from the Tyre district, were located in the Lebanese-German University building in the same district. However, the forcibly displaced people who were occupying the university building refused to leave. The municipalities tried to find suitable solutions for them, and one of the displaced women said that some municipalities offered them money to find alternative housing and vacate the university building, but they refused, fearing that their displacement would be prolonged and the offered amounts would not be enough to cover their rent. The number of these secondary schools reached 4 in the Bint Jbeil district, 4 in the Tyre district, and 1 in Hermel, totaling 9 public schools and secondary schools.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Schools that opened their doors in the villages of the front line<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h3>\n

        While private and public schools in several towns in the Bint Jbeil district that did not suffer extensive damage, such as those in Bint Jbeil, Shaqra, Tibnin, Beit Leef, and some Christian towns like Rmeish and Ain Ebel, are operating normally. In the Hasbaya district, schools in Kfarshouba, Ibl al-Saqi, and Habbarieh are open, as are secondary schools in Marjeyoun, Majdal Selm, and Taybeh, and one school in Khiam and Qlaiaa in the Marjeyoun district. Schools in Alma al-Shaab and Naqoura are also open in the Tyre district. The distribution is as follows: 6 in the Marjeyoun district, 16 in the Bint Jbeil district, 6 in the Hasbaya district, and 2 in the Tyre district, totaling 30 schools and secondary schools. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Naqoura: When willpower is the only resource <\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h3>\n

        <\/span>One of the strongest things documented in this study is the experience of the Naqoura Public School, which worked to launch in-person education in the frontline villages located directly on the border and which experienced widespread destruction. Restoration of the Naqoura Public School, says Layal Youssef, the school’s director: <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        \u201cAfter the ceasefire on November 27, approximately 60 families returned to the town of Naqoura and began repairing their homes. We opened because repairing our school was not very expensive. The remaining schools in the town and surrounding towns have not yet found alternative buildings to move to\u2026 I started registering for the academic year (2025\/2026) during September 2025. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        Part of the school is destroyed, but not the whole thing. The Southern Council renovated it and equipped it with a solar power system. However, the council set a date to begin the renovations and then backed down. They told me, “We were stopped by the authorities.” But the principal persisted and kept in touch, and they informed her that the renovation decision had been issued. The renovations were completed in a month and a half. Some details are still not finished, especially the water shortage. The school relies on water tankers provided by the municipality and the Civil Defense. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        The rubble was cleared from the playground by volunteers. UNIFIL then completed the clearing. The school is still open on the road because of the collapsed wall, but we are in an inner neighborhood of the town, so this is not a problem. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        The Ministry of Education provided some books. There is a shortage of equipment. Today, <\/span>UNICEF<\/span> provided a number of laptops<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

        The 60 families who returned to the town, the poorest and most vulnerable, some simply renovated a room and moved in. These children have the right to an education, so we worked to open the school. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        When we returned, the blackboards in the classrooms were full of bullets, the photocopier had bullets in it, the interactive whiteboard too. <\/span><\/p>\n

        The number of students in the school before the war was 200 pupils, and today it is 56 pupils.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        A number of the school’s students come from the surrounding villages, because they have not returned to their towns. There is a bus that transports them from Abbasiya, Mansouri, and Ma’raka… <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        Today we are having problems securing electricity due to the weather starting to change.”<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Phase Two: The Large-Scale War (March-April 2026) <\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h2>\n

        When war broke out again on March 2, 2026, the Ministry of Education declared its commitment to “maintaining the continuity of learning for all students.” However, faced with the pressure of forced displacement, it was unable to uphold this commitment. It organized the resumption of in-person and remote learning immediately after the second week of the war. However, it did not issue any binding decrees obligating public schools in war zones to return to in-person learning on specific, binding dates. Instead, it began collecting data on the locations of students and teachers, and then urged administrators to begin remote learning wherever possible. <\/span><\/p>\n

        By March 28, the distribution of school students was as follows: <\/span><\/p>\n

        Distribution of students in public and private schools according to type of education after the resumption of war on March 2, 2026<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        \"\" <\/span><\/p>\n

        The terms “in-person” and “hybrid” refer to the school’s hybrid model, which involves both in-person and online learning. The parents and students we interviewed agreed that hybrid learning is the weakest form of education because it requires teachers to juggle both methods simultaneously. Instead of using a digital resource for all students, for example, they must present a written lesson on the board for those physically present and deliver it via interactive whiteboards or live video feeds for students learning remotely. <\/span><\/p>\n

        The table reveals the gap between the public and private sectors, as the latter were able to <\/span>Private schools in war zones maintained continuity of education for all their students, while 17% of public school students remained without any education for a relatively long period (until March 28, and sometimes even longer). The study also revealed a 24% difference in in-person attendance between public and private schools, favoring the private sector. This does not justify the claim that private schools are pressuring for the resumption of classes to collect tuition fees. <\/span>Nor is it that distance learning is ineffective. <\/span>Even if that were true, the material outcome for the students would be the same: private school students returned to education despite the war, while public school students in war zones, who are the poorest and most vulnerable, did not return to education, or were very late in returning. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        According to figures from the Ministry of Education, there were 19,666 students in displacement centers, representing 2% of all students in Lebanon, but 4.9% of public school students and 22% of students from war zones. <\/span> In contrast, the number of private school students in displacement centers reached only 5,518, equivalent to 0.7% of the total private sector student population. These figures clearly reveal that the war did not affect all students equally, but rather reproduced and deepened existing inequalities. Students in the formal education system and the most vulnerable groups bore the brunt of displacement and disruption to their education, while the education system itself reflected this inequality with painful accuracy. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Phase Three: After the so-called partial ceasefire (May<\/span> <\/b>10-6-2026 <\/b>–<\/span> today)<\/b><\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n

        <\/span>After May 2026, attacks became concentrated specifically in the south. Ministry of Education data shows that 60% of students in Lebanon attend in-person classes nationwide, while this figure reached 79% <\/span>in private schools. This means that the difference between public and private schools in terms of in-person learning nationwide is 19%, in favor of private schools.<\/span> <\/p>\n

        But this average masks a harsher reality: 95% of students in Nabatieh Governorate, in both public and private schools, are learning remotely; 64% of students in South Governorate, in both public and private schools, are learning remotely; and 93% of students in Beirut are learning remotely because their schools are still hosting internally displaced persons. This means that the percentage in the South remained close to the national average because Sidon and its surrounding areas did not suffer from the same level of aggression as the South. Meanwhile, only 5% of students in Nabatieh Governorate were learning in person. This is a shocking figure that reveals the depth of the educational gap in this region, especially after the renewed aggression in March 2016. <\/p>\n

        The 40% who are studying remotely are distributed as follows: 23% from war zones, and 17% from safe areas where their schools have been turned into displacement centers. All of these 40%, which is more than a third of the learners in Lebanon, will lose approximately a third of the school year, from March until its end. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        \"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

        \"\" <\/span><\/p>\n

        These tables, prepared by the Ministry of Education, show that only 9 students from the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate are out of school after the ceasefire. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        Psychosocial support: absent where it is most needed <\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h3>\n

        <\/span>Parents say their children have returned to normal life, but the psychological and social effects continue to manifest and impact their behavior and education. No support initiatives have yet been offered to them. The Ministry of Education promises “intensified guidance and counseling visits” to the schools they have enrolled in. However, the problem is that the number of counselors in the area is limited, many have been displaced, and no counselors from outside the area are coming due to security concerns. Furthermore, the counselors assigned to these tasks have not received any specialized training programs for these children. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        In a study conducted by the Lebanese Center for Studies, 48% of parents expressed their children’s need for psychological support. The study states, “Psychological and emotional support for students, parents, and teachers who are experiencing trauma due to displacement and aggression is equally important. Teachers emphasized that psychological support programs should be led by qualified professionals to address children’s fears and emotional challenges.” <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        Cumulative educational loss since the outbreak of the economic crisis in October 2019 until today<\/span><\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h3>\n

        In an interview, the Minister of Education stated that “every student in Lebanon suffers from a 40% learning loss,” but no study has been conducted to determine the extent of this loss in the governorates that suffered most from the Israeli war on Lebanon. Furthermore, no specific plans exist to address this learning loss in schools in the South, Nabatieh, or the border villages. The Ministry of Education maintains that the diagnostic assessment and support plan implemented for the basic education level already covers students in these two governorates, thus contributing to bridging the gap and addressing the learning loss.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        The Minister of Education recently announced that a new diagnostic test will be conducted at the beginning of the next academic year 2026\/2027 to assess the learning loss that may have resulted from the disruption of education in the 2026 war.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        Summary<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h2>\n

        The data presented in this study, across its three phases, revealed one recurring truth: the border regions of the South and Nabatieh did not pay the price of war just once, but rather repeatedly, at every stage, during every interruption, and on every level. Students in the frontline villages experienced a near-total disruption of their education when the war began in October 2023, followed by forced displacement, a return to ruins, and then a renewed, expanded war. The resulting cumulative losses have yet to be measured by any study specifically focused on these two governorates. <\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        This reality presents a clear priority: it is not enough for the assessment and support plan to be national and unified. What the South and Nabatieh need is an exceptional policy that stems from the specific extent of what their students have lost, a thorough study of the cumulative learning loss, field-based psychological support programs led by specialists, and phased compensation plans that do not wait for the start of the next academic year.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        The most practical and effective approach is what these communities have proven for themselves: when basic resources like a building to be renovated, a chair to be provided, and a table to be opened, schools reopened and students returned. What is required of the state is not miracles, but rather that resources arrive in a timely manner, and that it not merely celebrate community resilience. <\/span> <\/span>And to build upon it instead of merely praising it.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

        Because Lebanon, which lies on a fault line of recurring crises in the foreseeable future, has no choice but to cling to saving what can be saved, on every level, and clinging to providing and continuing education is one of the most important things that every society should think about, under all circumstances. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        *The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal or the Lebanese Studies Center, but represent only the opinion of its author. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        It is not enough for the assessment and support plan to be national and unified. What the South and Nabatieh need is an exceptional policy that stems from the specific scale of what their students have lost. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-studies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1531,"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415\/revisions\/1531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-monitor.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}