Israel’s war creating a ‘lost generation’ of Lebanese students

Beirut, Lebanon – Israel’s war has created a lost generation of Lebanese students, widening societal disparities and, in turn, damaging national unity, experts have told Al Jazeera. Israel has destroyed schools across southern Lebanon and displaced hundreds of thousands of students. Hundreds of educational institutions have turned into makeshift shelters for thousands of displaced people , causing a compounding series of disruptions to an education system that was already struggling as a result of a debilitating economic crisis . Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list Schools in Lebanon have responded by using online learning and other programs to reach students, but education experts in the country said many were still falling through the gaps. And in an effort to catch up on all the lost schooling, the focus has been on subjects such as the sciences and mathematics, with topics such as citizenship ignored. In a country like Lebanon, with its numerous religious sects, that could lead to a dangerous future. “The mission of an education system is to build citizens,” Carlos Naffah, an academic researcher, told Al Jazeera. “We don’t want to face the fact that we lost a generation,” said Naffah. Stop-gap solutions On March 2, Israel intensified its war on Lebanon for the second time in under two years. …