"In my own country, I buried my dreams! Yet, other horizons arise... somewhere to rise above unconditional fears!"
This was Sarah's only thought after her recent graduation. A young talented female from my country. After being accepted into Oxford for her post-graduate studies, she stood by the doorstep of her dreams, gazing ahead.
Sarah is just one example of many. Jad, Sally, Zainab, Ellie, Mariam, and Tony are living examples of Lebanese youth struggling to survive.
How will our youth build a better future when they cannot survive the present?
Amidst the Lebanese crisis and suffocating to earn a living, the Lebanese youth are struggling to learn and afford money to survive. Three years of sinking in the ocean of death, the COVID 19 pandemic, and facing the economic crisis have put youth on the edge of survival. The ongoing plethora of problems has contributed to the decline of Lebanon's educational system, leaving hopelessness among the youth!
Notably, 30% of youth aged between 15 and 24 in Lebanon decreased their meals, while others were deprived of essential and nutritious food. Moreover, "Once a young person drops out of school at the age of 13, 14, and 15, it's complicated to get them back into school, and so they enter into a very precarious job market with a serious lack of education and skills," said Alexandre Schein, head of UNICEF's youth section in Lebanon. Crisis expand!
"About two weeks after the imprisonment began, I had to leave college since I could not continue paying my tuition. The university asked me to pay the amounts owing for two semesters; the bank stopped education loans. The 10% discount was insufficient to support me.” This is one of the living examples. (L'Orient-Le Jour,2020)
Financial issues were nothing new for Maribelle, who is currently enrolled in her third year of law at the Lebanese University (UL). “Bills were mounting while my father's income continued to decline. Our predicament was deteriorating. We were at our lowest at the beginning of the 2019–2020 academic year," she remarked. Maribelle had no choice but to depart from USJ. She enrolled at UL, the only public university in Lebanon, where the law program is taught in French. The economic downturn and coronavirus quarantine negatively impacted her father, who owned a tavern and a travel business. “I still owe them money. I also need to pay off bank loans that go back to my first year," Maribelle stated. (L'Orient-Le Jour,2020)
"Families are finding it harder and harder to safeguard the future of their children," he said, citing informal capital limits, banking limitations, and the threat to chop (haircut) Lebanese deposits. As he puts it, Mazen "had to make significant judgments" in this uncertain situation that he never thought he would have to make at this time in his life. "I had to choose between accepting the truth and leaving the country. I decided to stay."
As stated in the report “Searching for Hope '' more than 4 in 10 youth in Lebanon started to pay less for their education; instead, they spend money on life necessities, food, and medicine. Additionally, 3 in 10 stopped education (UNICEF, 2022). Therefore, its globally known COVID 19 is a prevailing virus that invades the world; however, in Lebanon, the ghost of poverty haunts almost every youth! It’s unfair to feel homeless in your homeland!
In a nutshell, the Lebanese youth are a priority, but they are the victims of the deteriorating educational system. By saving the new generation, you are saving a whole country. Malcolm X once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Provide us with a glimpse of hope!
تويتر
فيسبوك
يوتيوب
انستغرام
مسنجر
واتساب
بريد إلكتروني
الطباعة
