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Exclusive - Displaced Syrian Students Keep up with Lebanese Counterparts

Syrian refugee students sit in their classroom at a Lebanese public school. (AP)
Syrian refugee students sit in their classroom at a Lebanese public school. (AP)
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Exclusive - Displaced Syrian Students Keep up with Lebanese Counterparts

Syrian refugee students sit in their classroom at a Lebanese public school. (AP)
Syrian refugee students sit in their classroom at a Lebanese public school. (AP)

The number of Syrian students enrolled in formal education in Lebanon is 213,358, of whom 59,149 study in the normal morning hours, and 154,209 attend school in the afternoon. This record - not found in any other country - reflects the size of Syrian refugees compared to to the population of Lebanon.

“Lebanese public schools receive the highest proportion of refugee students in the world compared to the population,” said Fadi Yaraq, director general of the Ministry of Education.

The enrollment of Syrian pupils in public schools is supported by international donors, especially the European Union, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom and many United Nations agencies, through the ministry’s launch of the Education for All Children in Lebanon in 2014.

“The education of Syrian students in Lebanon is funded by the European Union, Germany, Britain, Norway, France and the United States. The transfers are carried out through the Ministry of Education from UNICEF, the UNHCR and World Bank,” Yaraq noted.

"In the afternoon hours, around 14,328 employees work for the Syrian refugees, of whom 2,076 hold administrative posts, 9,124 are teachers, 1,051 are psychologists and counselors, 364 are directors and 1,712 are supervisors,” he added.

He noted that Syrian students have registered remarkable successes in official examinations.

“Their results were slightly lower compared to those recorded by Lebanese students.”

“The first observation is that there is a disparity between the ages of Syrians within the same class,” said Fadia Wehbe, a specialist in psychology and a primary school teacher.

She told Asharq Al-Awsat that some students did not attend school for one or two years, which necessitated subjecting them to courses for literacy and rehabilitation of the subjects in general. Those students were later evaluated and distributed according to their academic and scientific level.

“Despite the differences in age, a large percentage of students caught up on what they missed,” she added.

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Hezbollah’s ‘Statelet’ in Syria’s Qusayr Under Israeli Fire

Smoke billows from al-Qusayr in western Syria following an attack. (SANA)
Smoke billows from al-Qusayr in western Syria following an attack. (SANA)
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Hezbollah’s ‘Statelet’ in Syria’s Qusayr Under Israeli Fire

Smoke billows from al-Qusayr in western Syria following an attack. (SANA)
Smoke billows from al-Qusayr in western Syria following an attack. (SANA)

Israel has expanded its strikes against Hezbollah in Syria by targeting the al-Qusayr region in Homs.

Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon in September and has in the process struck legal and illegal borders between Lebanon and Syria that are used to smuggle weapons to the Iran-backed party. Now, it has expanded its operations to areas of Hezbollah influence inside Syria itself.

Qusayr is located around 20 kms from the Lebanese border. Israeli strikes have destroyed several bridges in the area, including one stretching over the Assi River that is a vital connection between Qusayr and several towns in Homs’ eastern and western countrysides.

Israel has also hit main and side roads and Syrian regime checkpoints in the area.

The Israeli army announced that the latest attacks targeted roads that connect the Syrian side of the border to Lebanon and that are used to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah.

Qusayr is strategic position for Hezbollah. The Iran-backed party joined the fight alongside the Syrian regime against opposition factions in the early years of the Syrian conflict, which began in 2011. Hezbollah confirmed its involvement in Syria in 2013.

Hezbollah waged its earliest battles in Syria against the “Free Syrian Army” in Qusayr. After two months of fighting, the party captured the region in mid-June 2013. By then, it was completely destroyed and its population fled to Lebanon.

A source from the Syrian opposition said Hezbollah has turned Qusayr and its countryside to its own “statelet”.

It is now the backbone of its military power and the party has the final say in the area even though regime forces are deployed there, it told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Qusayr is critical for Hezbollah because of its close proximity to the Lebanese border,” it added.

Several of Qusayr’s residents have since returned to their homes. But the source clarified that only regime loyalists and people whom Hezbollah “approves” of have returned.

The region has become militarized by Hezbollah. It houses training centers for the party and Shiite militias loyal to Iran whose fighters are trained by Hezbollah, continued the source.

Since Israel intensified its attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the party moved the majority of its fighters to Qusayr, where the party also stores large amounts of its weapons, it went on to say.

In 2016, Shiite Hezbollah staged a large military parade at the al-Dabaa airport in Qusayr that was seen as a message to the displaced residents, who are predominantly Sunni, that their return home will be impossible, stressed the source.

Even though the regime has deployed its forces in Qusayr, Hezbollah ultimately holds the greatest sway in the area.

Qusayr is therefore of paramount importance to Hezbollah, which will be in no way willing to cede control of.

Lebanese military expert Brig. Gen Saeed Al-Qazah told Asharq Al-Awsat that Qusayr is a “fundamental logistic position for Hezbollah.”

He explained that it is where the party builds its rockets and drones that are delivered from Iran. It is also where the party builds the launchpads for firing its Katyusha and grad rockets.

Qazah added that Qusayr is also significant for its proximity to Lebanon’s al-Hermel city and northeastern Bekaa region where Hezbollah enjoys popular support and where its arms deliveries pass through on their way to the South.

Qazah noted that Israel has not limited its strikes in Qusayr to bridges and main and side roads, but it has also hit trucks headed to Lebanon, stressing that Israel has its eyes focused deep inside Syria, not just the border.