Impact of escalating conflict on education systems in Lebanon, Arab States
UNESCO has released a rapid overview on the impact of escalating conflict on education systems in the Arab States, highlighting a regional emergency affecting over 100 million children.
Across the region, millions of learners are experiencing disruption through school closures, shifts to remote learning, or reduced access. Learning loss is deepening at an unprecedented scale, while the risk of permanent dropout is rapidly increasing. Psychosocial distress has reached critical levels, affecting both learners and teachers.
In Lebanon, 1,156 public schools are designated as collective shelters, with 570 schools closed or in conflict areas, affecting 241,671 students. In the Gaza Strip, the education system has effectively collapsed, with 97.5% of schools damaged or destroyed and over 637,000 children out of school.
Lebanon illustrates how acute crises rapidly overwhelm already fragile systems. As of April, the report said.
The risk of permanent dropout is rapidly increasing. In a region where one in three children was already out of school, current disruptions, such as 241,671 children affected due to school closure or in conflict areas in Lebanon are pushing many learners beyond the threshold of return. This raises the real prospect of a lost generation, particularly among displaced and vulnerable populations.
Education systems themselves are under severe strain. In Lebanon, 55% of shelter centers are public schools. In Gaza, education delivery has shifted entirely to humanitarian modalities. In Iraq, reform processes and service delivery are being delayed. Across the region, systems face budget constraints, limited preparedness, and insufficient crisis-response capacity, as highlighted in UNESCO’s framework.
UNESCO said it sustains learning, promotes cohesion, and safeguards wellbeing during this crisis in Lebanon. It provides targeted mental health and psychosocial support for learners and educators, ensures learning continuity and learning recovery by producing and distributing learning kits, adapting curriculum resources for the emergency response, and facilitating continuity of national exams. It also Promotes social cohesion through curricular/extracurricular activities.
The report highlights that education is no longer a secondary casualty of conflict, but central to the crisis itself, while also serving as a critical entry point for protection, stability, and recovery.
Source: Naharnet
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