In Lebanon, even private schools caught in education crisis
The influx of displaced Syrians into Lebanon has worsened the already struggling education system in the country, with demand for private schools soaring as public schools are overcrowded and teachers exhausted.
Lebanon's education sector suffers from chronic problems that date back decades, to before the country's civil war. There have long been enormous disparities between Lebanon's public and private schools. The crisis worsened in 2012-2013, when the mass Syrian displacement brought a flood of Syrian students into Lebanese schools and pushed even more Lebanese students to opt for private schooling.
According to statistics from the Center for Educational Research and Development published in 2014 and 2015, private and UNRWA schools in Lebanon accommodate more than 70% of Lebanese students, and only 28% of Lebanon's students go to public schools. The public education sector is plagued by curricula problems created by the influx of Syrian students, particularly to the rural areas close to the Lebanese-Syrian borders where the refugee camps are located and to some cities that have attracted large numbers of Syrians like Tripoli, Akkar, Nabatieh and the Bekaa cities.
