The Fourth Pillar: Syrian Refugee Education in Lebanon

Since the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011, large numbers of Syrian refugees have fled to Lebanon, which is currently hosting the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. Almost half of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon are school-aged children. This has created a high demand for education. However, access to quality education in the public school system is limited, and the majority of Lebanese children are enrolled in private fee-based schools. Simultaneously, nearly 70% of Syrian households are living below the poverty line, and most Syrians are not able to pay school fees required by the private schools. Thus, the Lebanese government has taken on the leading role, in collaboration with UN-agencies, to provide education for the Syrian children in Lebanon. The public schools are however, over-stretched, and international funding has fallen short. The rigorous residency requirements in combination with increasing poverty have pushed many Syrian households to utilize negative coping strategies, such as the use of child labor and early marriage. Despite an increased international awareness of the importance of emergency education, almost 250,000 Syrian children are still remaining outside of the formal education system in Lebanon. This thesis seeks to examine the education policy for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, drawing on the social, political, and economical factors preventing Syrian refugee children from enrolling in Lebanese schools