Caretaker Education Minister Abbas El Halabi announced on April 25 that the official exam dates were scheduled to take place in early July. His announcement came after much speculation about whether or not the official exams would be held amid a strike by public school teachers that has been ongoing since early January. His decision has unfortunately given rise to panoply of challenges.
Although private schools are as a general rule more financially privileged than public schools, the Lebanese official exams have somehow created equality between them.
For Serena Azzi, a public-school senior student at Kfarchima High School, her last school year has been far from pleasant. “We started school in mid-October, and we would go four times a week. Then, we went home for Christmas break and only returned to school on March 6. Our school days are now reduced to twice per week. This school year felt like a vacation,” the student told This is Beirut.
Serena is just one of many public school students who have suffered from a paralyzed school year. However, if her school managed to open its doors after a 4-month strike, others only went back to school in early May, and still others have yet to go back to school.
Asked if it was a good decision for the Minister of Education to overlook some subjects in the official exams, she answered, “If the Minister had not made this decision, we would not even have been able to finish the curriculum.”
Public school students are still keen to salvage the school year at a time when private school students have already finished their curriculum since April and took their study leave in May. In her opinion, there is only one solution to this issue: more time. “A whole school year cannot be taught in a couple of months. It is unfair that private and public school students take the official exams under the same circumstances.” Public school teachers are hastily explaining the required curriculum, which is stressing out the students. “There are so many chapters I know nothing about,” the student said.
“Some teachers are mentioning concepts that we have never heard of, and we are left confused and anxious.” This problem has also left students with constant feelings of worry for their future academic journey. At the end of the day, passing the official exams is a requirement to pursue higher education. “This school year will make us struggle to achieve success in college. I fear for my future. What is going to happen to us?” the student lamented.
Students are well aware of the situation, and teachers are trying to catch up with the private schools. For Suzanne Rihana, an Economics teacher at Deddeh Public School and Sainte Therese and Saint Pierre private schools in Amioun, having both perspectives makes it easier for her to point out the injustices between the two sectors.
“I taught private-school students the 15 required lessons in economics for the official exams and was able to cover both personalized practices and previous exams from the Shamel,” she said.
“In the public school, I barely covered five sessions, which means my students have only learned one third of what private schools have covered. At this point, teaching ten more lessons a month before the exams is impossible,” she explained.
She believes that this inequality will be crystal clear once the official exams results come out, “the success rate of private school students is guaranteed because they have studied everything. They will also have some chapters omitted with only six subjects to present. Meanwhile, the success rate of public schools will inevitably decrease because they will barely be able to finish the curriculum and won’t have any time to study.”
This awful reality has deeply saddened the teacher as she reflected on previous school years, “I remember when the official exams results would come out, the top ranking students in the country would almost always be from public schools. However, with the government’s failure to provide us with our basic rights, this will not happen this year. The official exam is no longer offsetting the stage for equality, but rather for disparity.”
This disparity also exists in the teaching profession. “Teachers have become beggars, she confessed.
”We are begging the Ministry for a gas tank to be able to make it to our jobs. We are begging for a salary increase, let alone for proper medical support. In these times, even manual workers make more money and are more respected than us.”
The teachers’ mental health is sadly no better than their living conditions. “We are mentally drained from working pointlessly without being reimbursed. I feel bad for my students, but I cannot teach them because I would be betraying my colleagues,” she regretted. She was even offered the chance to correct the official exams, but she refused. In her opinion, there is only one solution to this problem: “the official exams need to be canceled.”
Halabi’s insistence on holding the official exams remains a major debate that needs to be addressed. However, attempts to contact him or any other government officials have failed.
