Israel-Lebanon War Disrupts Education for 500000 School-Aged Children

Israeli attacks in Lebanon since March have displaced more than 1.2 million people, among them 500000 school-aged children, according to UNESCO. The operations followed an intensification of conflict on March 2, which came after Hezbollah responses to reported Israeli ceasefire violations.

Hundreds of schools have been affected, with 339 located in war zones, hundreds more used as shelters for displaced people and another 100 in high-risk areas. The disruptions have affected an education system already strained by economic crisis since 2019.

Schools have turned to online learning and other programs to maintain instruction. Education officials have also opened multiple shifts in public schools, established temporary learning centers and integrated psychosocial services for affected students.

Tala Abdulghani, a senior researcher at the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship, said hybrid learning has become the norm due to repeated instability from the 2019 revolution, COVID-19, economic crisis and now the war. She added that it has often proven ineffective for vulnerable students because of limited internet access, electricity shortages, lack of devices and unstable living conditions.

Maysoun Chehab, senior education programme specialist at UNESCO, said children are losing routine, stability, friendships and normal life. Many carry trauma, anxiety and fear from repeated displacement, exposure to violence and prolonged instability.

Families face choices between basic needs and maintaining children's access to education, which has led to increased dropout rates, child labor and child marriage in some cases. Teachers have also been heavily affected. Public sector teachers saw their salaries decrease by about 80 percent due to economic crisis and currency devaluation.

Since 2019, 30 percent of the sector has left the country or changed professions. Many teachers are themselves displaced and face both economic hardship and safety risks.

Naffah, an academic researcher, said the mission of an education system is to build citizens. The current approach has emphasized sciences and mathematics to help students catch up while largely setting aside subjects such as citizenship. In a country with numerous religious sects, this shift could affect national unity over time.

Lebanon's Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, rose from 0.32 in 2011 to 0.61 in 2023 according to the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. A 2024 ESCWA study placed Lebanon among the most unequal countries before the latest conflict. Abdulghani said the war has produced growing educational inequality in which geography and socioeconomic status increasingly determine access to learning, particularly in southern Lebanon.

Chehab noted that education systems may survive one shock but these are overlapping shocks ongoing for years. Humanitarian funding for educational emergencies is under strain globally. Officials from the Ministry of Education have coordinated with UNESCO on response measures, though experts said structural economic and political factors limit their impact.