Inside Syrian refugee schools: Making room for refugees in second shifts (Sarah Dryden-Peterson, Elizabeth Adelman, Brookings)

Five years ago, the state of Lebanon’s public education system was rarely a topic of discussion. In fact, less than one-third of the country’s children enroll in public school (around 300,000 students a year). However, since the start of the Syrian conflict the demand for education in Lebanon’s government schools has increased significantly. An estimated 360,000 school-aged refugee children have fled into Lebanon from Syria and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees share a goal of integrating them into public schools. To cope with the massive influx of young people, the MEHE has adopted the strategy of “second shifts” for refugee children. This year, 160 of Lebanon’s 1,350 public schools are operating both a morning shift—primarily, but not exclusively for Lebanese children—and an afternoon shift for Syrian refugee children.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/education-plus-development/posts/2016/02/17-inside-syrian-refugee-schools-dryden-peterson-adelman