The Minister of Education and Higher Education, Abbas Halabi, met with a delegation from the World Food Program (WFP), which included Deputy Executive Director Carl Skao, Program Director in Lebanon Abdullah Wardat, and the team responsible for implementing the school feeding program, Hazem Hassan and Dominique Hanid. The meeting was attended by the Director of Guidance and Counseling, Dr. Hilda Khoury, the Minister’s advisor for cooperation matters, Maher Al-Hosniya, media advisor Albert Chamoun, and cooperation coordinator Iman Assi. The Minister welcomed Mr. Skao and the delegation, praising the existing collaboration between the ministry and the program during challenging times in Lebanon. He emphasized that the school feeding program has become a success story, as the beneficiary demographic has grown year by year, reaching over one hundred thousand learners.
The Minister expressed hope that the framework of beneficiaries would expand, especially as the number of marginalized social groups has increased, necessitating the program to also cover teachers and school staff with food rations. He explained the difficulties faced by the Lebanese treasury regarding the sustainability of education for Lebanese citizens, especially since the burden of displaced persons has been increasing, costing Lebanon significantly.
Skao, for his part, pointed to the funding challenges faced by the program but expressed satisfaction with its success in meeting the basic nutritional needs of students, which enhances their ability to continue their education. He highlighted the efforts he would undertake with funding and support entities to maintain food provisions for many students in schools. He spoke of the magnitude of challenges faced by Lebanon across all fronts, affirming that he would strive to do better despite declining funding levels, by engaging donors and supporters to provide more assistance to the program. He revealed that he would be visiting several official schools that provide food to students, including schools with kitchens that serve multiple schools in their geographical area, purchasing food supplies from the surrounding community to contribute to local economic activity.
The Minister then met with the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office, Dr. Costanza Farina, who was accompanied by a delegation from the office, including educational program officer Maisoun Shahab and Asem Abi Ali, along with the Minister's office director Ramza Jaber, advisor for external relations Maher Al-Hosniya, and media advisor Albert Chamoun. The Minister was briefed on the positive feedback from meetings he held in Washington regarding the "Education Does Not Wait" initiative, and the readiness of project manager Yasmin Shereef to conduct an Arab tour to provide further support to the Ministry of Education to implement its plan for ensuring the continuity of education for all under current circumstances. They agreed to collaborate on preparing the files and needs necessary for this purpose. The meeting also addressed the ministry's five-year plan and the commissioning of an international expert to review the previous phase of the plan, monitor the components that have been implemented, and identify the remaining components to allow the ministry to make decisions regarding the next phase.
Furthermore, the attendees discussed the provision of experts to assist the General Directorate of Higher Education in accomplishing its numerous tasks.
### Circular on Nominations for Official Examinations
Additionally, Minister Halabi issued a circular concerning the adoption of the conditions and procedures stated in Decree No. 13153 dated 5/4/2024 for nominations for the official exams for the General Secondary Certificate in its four branches, and for the unified exam for ninth-grade students for the year 2024, noting that the conduct of this unified exam has been suspended. The circular states:
“Based on Decree No. 13153 dated 5/4/2024, which includes specific provisions for nominating students for official exams in 2024, and the nature of these exams for students who have not attended classes due to security conditions in their registered geographical area, and replacing the official exam for the intermediate certificate in 2024 with an exam with unified questions prepared by the General Directorate of Education, conducted alongside both public and private schools for their ninth-grade students, the following procedures and conditions shall apply for accepting nominations for the official exams for the General Secondary Certificate in its four branches and for the unified exam for ninth-grade students, even if its conduct has been suspended, as follows:
1. All public and private schools shall nominate all justified students in the third secondary grade registered with them for the academic year 2023-2024 for the official exams for the General Secondary Certificate in its four branches, as well as ninth-grade students justified in their registration for the unified exam as stipulated in Decree No. 13153 dated 5/4/2024, following the nomination procedures established by the General Directorate of Education in previous years, based on the official documents specified for accepting this nomination within the deadlines announced by the General Director of Education for this purpose.
2. Any student who turned eighteen years old on or before 1/1/2024 and is not registered in the ninth-grade at any public or private schools, as well as candidates from any previous years for the official exams for the intermediate certificate regardless of their ages, has the right to apply for participation in a special free application session for the year 2024, conducted in accordance with the procedures applicable to the organization of official exams.
3. The latest available version of the individual registration statement for the candidate may be accepted through the school where they are studying or the applicant for free participation in the 2024 official exams, provided that the accuracy of this statement and the information contained therein is verified through endorsement by the relevant civil registry or by being sealed and signed by the authorized mayor if endorsement by the relevant department is not possible.
4. Principals of schools that did not have in-person teaching during the current academic year due to security situations in their geographical area will nominate students from both the third secondary and ninth grades registered with them in a justified manner for the academic year 2023-2024, based on the data, documents, and records preserved in the individual school files for each student who was unable to present the required documents for their nomination. In this case, this nomination shall not confer any rights of any kind if it is determined that any of the relied-upon documents in the personal file are flawed, rendering them inadmissible. This right shall be revoked by a decision made by the Minister of Education and Higher Education based on a substantiated proposal from the General Director of Education.
5. The right to apply for the unified exam for ninth-grade students is granted, in addition to students registered in the ninth grade at any public or private schools in a justified manner, to any other student who has not justified their registration in this grade for any of the following three reasons:
- An ongoing dispute with an educational arbitration council or any judicial authority between a student's guardian and the private school they transferred from to another school, whether public or private, without obtaining a school certificate from the previous school indicating the last grade they successfully completed, regardless of whether this transfer occurred at the beginning of the current academic year (2023-2024) or any earlier academic year.
- A student registered in a grade lower than ninth without meeting the necessary conditions for transfer to that lower grade, having spent over two academic years since that registration; during which the student continued to study without any impact resulting from their failure to meet all transfer conditions that hindered their educational progression during this duration.
- A non-Lebanese student who successfully completed two academic years in Lebanon but lacks the required documents for nomination or legal residency in Lebanon.
6. The provisions of paragraph 5 of this circular shall apply to the nomination of third secondary students for the official exams for the General Secondary Certificate in its four branches.
7. Each educational district shall organize, upon the end of the nomination period, a list of non-Lebanese students who were nominated for the official exams for the General Secondary Certificate or for the unified exam for ninth-grade students, without each of them presenting legal residency in Lebanon, along with the information available about each of them, to be sent to the General Directorate of Education for submission to the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities – General Directorate of General Security, as the relevant authority regarding residency matters.”
