In Lebanon» Project and Funded by Germany
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The Implemented by: Special Edition This supplement is produced by the UNDP «Peace Building in Lebanon» project and funded by Germany. The Arabic version is distributed with An-Nahar newspaper while the English version is distributed with The Daily Star and the French version with in Lebanon L’Orient-Le Jour. The supplement contains articles by writers, journalists, media professionals, researchers and artists residing in Lebanon. They cover issues related to civil peace in addition to the repercussions News Supplement of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon and the relations between Lebanese and Syrians, employing objective approaches that are free of hatred Issue nº 21, May 2019 and misconceptions. Artwork by Mona Abi Warde Mona by Artwork © 03 Peace Building Through Education: A Central Concern 08 - 09 Social Mix in Higher Education 03 Teachers Syndicate: A Story of Legal Empowerment 04 The Role of Educational Curricula in Peace Building in Lebanon 05 Contractual Workers in Public Education or «Precarity Management» 06 Student Protection: Top Priority for the Ministry of Education 07 The Dangers of Video Game Addiction 10 Media Education and Cultural Transformations 11 Syria’s Youth: A Forgotten Case 12 Why Bother with History? 13 The Suffering during Civil War through the People’s History 14 When the Missing Contribute to Building Civil Peace 15 The Secrecy of an Investigation or the Shame of Open Trial? Illustration by Sandra Jabr Sandra by Illustration 16 The Role of Education in Building Peace © The in Lebanon Issue nº 21, May 2019 2 news supplement Children are Education, a Weapon for Peace As Lebanon marked the somber anniversary of the political, economic and social transformations in our Future beginning of Lebanon’s civil war, this supplement post-conflict settings. Every child has the right to an education. will examine and reflect on how education can The focus of our supplement is both important and sustain peace, and the deliberate policies and timely globally and in Lebanon, as further emphasis All parents – including myself – have strategies that need to be put in place to maximize is being placed on the achievement of Agenda 2030 one major wish: to give their kids a the positive effects of education on peace. Specifically, for Sustainable Development. The role of education it will seek to tackle the complex issues that affect in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals is chance to learn, to play and to discover education across the Lebanese society – from clear, as outlined in Goal 4 with a focus on ensuring the world – and in the end to create a administration to culture, from child protection to inclusive and equitable education for all, and curricula. It will do so by focusing the various articles imparting knowledge and skills needed to promote better future for them and for all of us. on and giving voice to the teachers, academics, those sustainable development, including through Unfortunately still many children in working in agencies supporting education, and most promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, of all the children and students who long for learning. global citizenship and appreciation of cultural Lebanon are not attending school and As we look to the issue of education and peace, three diversity. main elements have globally been highlighted in the have no access to formal education. This Just like for previous supplements, we hope that it last decade. The first area relates to concerns to the remains a challenge for all of us – we protection of children in situations of crisis, and the will stimulate dialogue on collective approaches and strategies to strengthen the contribution of education owe it to the children and to the future response to the negative impacts that conflicts will have on their education. A second focus prioritizes towards long-term peace building in Lebanon, where of this country to improve this situation! “do no harm” to ensure that education does not an important alternative to violence lies in a vibrant classroom. The international community has reinforce inequalities or fuel further divisions. A third area relates to education and peacebuilding more therefore pledged to improve education specifically, with a focus on reforms to the education Celine Moyroud worldwide. The 2030 Agenda for sector itself and its contributions towards broader UNDP Resident Representative a.i. Sustainable Developments has the objective to «ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and A Forced Marriage promote lifelong learning opportunities One of many legislative aberrations in our country has appropriations and the amount that must actually be been to couple the salaries of private sector teachers disbursed, hugely inflating the government’s wage bill. for all». with those of the public sector. Thus, under the pretext Added to this is the recruitment of thousands of In the past years we managed to bring that at one time their Union did not have enough additional public servants, uncontrolled as much as it is influence to negotiate the sector’s demands, the illegal, as a result of corruption and political clout. more children into school and to government at the time decided to hitch their fate to the What has become of the teachers’ rightful demand? improve the quality of education. In the caravan of the public sector. Meanwhile, the great The part that concerns them in the new salary grid is so advantage of having their salaries raised regularly along vague that it ended up creating an inextricable muddle past four years German support helped with those of civil servants was dangled before private- of the relationship between the private school educate more than half a million kids in sector teachers. administrations, employees and parent committees, However, over the years, the number of civil servants with the looming specter of rising tuition fees. Lebanon. More than 150 Lebanese public has almost quadrupled. It thus became practically The urgency today for private teachers is to regain their schools were rehabilitated, with our impossible to revise their remuneration without further union’s autonomy by quickly extricating themselves widening the public deficit and increasing public debt, from this forced marriage with the public sector, to try support. Another EUR 50 million will be with all that comes with it in terms of threatening the as much as possible to recover their rights, away from committed by Germany to the Lebanese stability of the national currency. The latest salary scale government mismanagement and cobbled-up approach. for civil service, arduously pushed through Parliament Programme «Reaching All Children last year, has had serious repercussions on the Gaby Nasr with Education» (RACE), bringing the government budget because of the huge gap between Managing Editor - L’Orient-Le Jour supplements total German contribution to this project up to EUR 250 million since 2014. This is Political Exploitation Hurts Refugees an impressive joint achievement which we should be proud of. There is talk of a new wave of refugees from Syria to They take the refugee card out of its humanitarian Lebanon. This time the reasons are economic and context to the political, and instead of empathizing Germany stands ready to support related to living conditions. The Syrians are suffering with refugees, who are not to blame, promote a state of Lebanon – not only by contributing to from extreme poverty in many regions, especially areas hostility that balloons to the point of revenge and remote from the capital Damascus, as they lack the intimidation. And with it the hostility between the two the RACE programme but also by basics following the destruction of infrastructure, peoples deepens. investing into the infrastructure of factories and plants, and agricultural land. Politicians should stop exploiting the issue of refugees The news—the expected inflow of refugees spread by to personal ends and for personal interests, upstaging Lebanese public schools and by politicians close to Damascus and not the opposite one another and continuing to try to impose duties of supporting the Ministry of Education in camp—does not serve, in any case, the interest of Syrian obedience and loyalty. Leave the issue to those directly refugees coming to Lebanon, because it fuels the fears concerned to be dealt with within the legal and official strengthening their capacities to ensure of the Lebanese of a new wave of refugees that the small frameworks adopted in similar cases. The Lebanese quality education for all. country cannot accommodate at any level, whether in State, through a meeting of the Council of Ministers, terms of living conditions, finance or security. should set its policy and convey it to the world in a Some politicians manipulate the refugee card for unified letter and project to exert pressure effectively, Dr. Georg Birgelen political pressure. They accuse others of not wanting to instead of appearing divided internally, in a way that Ambassador of the Federal Republic of send them back to their country, and then promote neither the State nor refugees-victims benefit. figures of new refugees as a means of fearmongering to Germany to Lebanon push the other toward political options they may not Ghassan Hajjar want. Editor in Chief - An-Nahar newspaper Copyright 2019. All rights reserved to the UNDP. The articles and interviews and other information mentioned in this supplement do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Development Programme. The content of the articles is the sole responsibility of the authors. The Issue nº 21, May 2019 in Lebanon news supplement 3 Peace Building Teachers Syndicate: A Story Through Education: of Legal Empowerment A Central Concern Lawyer Ziyad Baroud* The Teachers Syndicate is not new on the scene in terms of issues, unionizing and Fadi Yarak* fighting for its rights. Its leading role in the Union Coordination Committee and in In the early part of the twenty-first century, new aspirations other causes relating to rights is well established.