UNICEF Warns 100,000 Lebanese Children Could Miss New School Year Without Urgent School Repairs

A school damaged by the war between Israel and Hezbollah, is pictured in the southern coastal town of Naqura, on the border with Israel, on January 22, 2025. All signs of life have disappeared from the bombed-out houses and empty streets of Lebanon’s border town of Naqura. Despite a fragile Hezbollah-Israel truce, to be fully implemented this week, no one can return. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP) More than 100,000 children in Lebanon risk missing the coming academic year unless schools damaged during the recent conflict are repaired before classes are due to resume in September, the United Nations Children’s Fund has warned, urging authorities and international donors to fund reconstruction without delay. The warning followed a nationwide assessment carried out in June by Lebanon’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education. The survey found that 340 public, private and vocational schools were damaged during the conflict, including 17 that were completely destroyed, according to UNICEF. The agency said some schools sustained only minor damage, but many others require extensive rehabilitation or full reconstruction before students and teachers can safely return. The damage spans several of the governorates hit hardest by the fighting, including Nabatiyeh, South Lebanon, the Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, Beirut and Mount Lebanon. “Every day a child remains out of school, the risk of learning loss and dropping out increases,” said Marcoluigi Corsi, UNICEF’s representative in Lebanon. He said education could not wait for wider recovery to begin, describing schooling as an essential part of that recovery. Corsi called for immediate investment to complete repairs before the new school year, warning that a delayed reopening would deepen an education crisis that predates the latest fighting. The recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah caused widespread destruction across parts of Lebanon, damaging homes, health facilities and public infrastructure alongside schools and interrupting learning for large numbers of children. UNICEF has warned that prolonged absence from school raises the risk that children will leave education permanently and become more exposed to child labour and early marriage. In earlier assessments, the agency has said such disruption can also increase children’s vulnerability to exploitation and psychological harm. Lebanon’s education system was already under severe strain before the latest war. UNICEF has estimated that roughly 400,000 children remained out of school after years of economic collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic and repeated interruptions to the school calendar. The agency said it is working with local authorities to rehabilitate damaged schools and to sustain learning through the disruption, while appealing for additional funding to cover the cost of repairs and to help return children to classrooms. UNICEF said restoring access to education is essential to children’s protection, wellbeing and long-term recovery, and renewed its call for sustained international support to rebuild Lebanon’s schools. The post UNICEF Warns 100,000 Lebanese Children Could Miss New School Year Without Urgent School Repairs appeared first on Khaama Press.