Minister of Education: School Consolidation Is Not a Closure Project but a Reorganization

Minister of Education and Higher Education Reema Ramy held a press conference dedicated to explaining the file on school consolidation and all related measures and decisions aimed at securing a better educational environment for all learners in all regions, rationalizing spending and waste, optimizing human resource employment in permanent staff or contracts, and ensuring the best educational level, especially in rural areas. The conference was held in the Ministry's meeting hall, attended by Director General of Education Professor Fadi Yarak, heads of relevant units in the Ministry, and a group of journalists.

Ramy said in the conference statement: "I am speaking to you today about the file on consolidating schools and secondary schools, not from a position of defending a decision taken by the Ministry of Education, nor from entering into a debate with any party, but from a position of transparency and responsibility. I wished this file, like every educational file, would remain outside the political and electoral bazaar. However, the discussion around it has exceeded in recent weeks the limits of legitimate disagreement over an administrative decision, and sometimes reached the point of misleading regarding the Ministry's own direction. Concerns have arisen to spread confusion among public opinion and raise the following questions: Are we strengthening the official school or weakening it? Are we protecting the right to learn or reducing it? And is the project of consolidating some schools and secondary schools defined as struggling a project to close schools, or is it part of a path to rebuild an official school truly capable of educating our children? Therefore, I found it my duty to present the facts and standards to the Lebanese people, but most importantly, to explain the project within which these decisions fall."

She added: "Because education is not an arena for settling scores. The Lebanese student, regardless of their affiliation or region, is the first affected by any decision we take. First, let me answer briefly and clearly the accusations leveled against this file. It was said that the Ministry targets specific regions or sects. This is incorrect. It was said that it fights the poor and deprives them of their right to official education. This is incorrect. And it was said that the Ministry is working to close official schools and reduce the state's presence in education. This completely contradicts what we have been working for as a team since the first day we assumed responsibility. And it was said that the decision is financial, aiming to save and lower costs. Here too, I want to be clear: Financial and administrative considerations cannot be ignored when managing public funds, but they are certainly not the only compass guiding this decision. The compass is the learner's right, not just to a seat, but to good education."

Ramy indicated that "in the Ministry of Education, we will not defend every school building simply because it exists. Our duty is to defend every child's right to a school truly capable of educating them. When we find a school that does not meet the conditions for opening because it includes very low numbers of students, classes sometimes not exceeding three students, and where the number of teachers exceeds the number of students, and the cost per student ranges between $6,000-$8,000 (compared to less than $1,000) - and this exists - such a school cannot provide an integrated learning environment with its available resources. Therefore, it becomes the Ministry's duty to ask: Does continuing the status quo truly serve these students' right to good education and learning? But at the same time, we did not rely on blind calculation."

She noted that "the number of students is not the sole criterion. We looked at each school and secondary school, at its number of students and their distribution, at the distribution of students across stages and existing grades, at available human resources, at the existence of a nearby alternative school and its capacity to receive students, at distance and means of access, at geographic, social, and security conditions, at the language of instruction, at the specificity of remote and border areas, and at inclusive schools and the needs of learners with special needs."

Ramy affirmed that "a school in a remote area is not like a school in a city with many alternatives. A school in a border area is not like a school in a stable area. A school providing a program or language of instruction unavailable in its surroundings is not like others. Therefore, I assure everyone who has questions about the decision to consolidate a school that we sought to consider the following data: How many students does it have? To what extent does it comply with educational standards and current legal requirements? What are their needs to reach a safe learning environment? What is the alternative? How far away is it? Can it accommodate them?... This is the discussion we want."

She stressed that "if facts prove that a decision regarding a specific school does not serve its students' interests, we are ready to review it. Because reviewing a decision based on data is not a retreat; it is part of responsible governance," noting that "the issue for us is bigger than a decision to consolidate a school here or a secondary school there."

She said: "The real question we must ask today as a Ministry of Education responsible for securing the right to learn is: Which official school do we want? Past years have revealed, and international test results and local assessments, including the diagnostic assessment conducted by the Ministry for the first time in official schools, have shown the scale of learning loss suffered by our students. We cannot see these results and then act as if our mission is only to keep everything as it is. Our responsibility is not to manage a struggling reality. Our responsibility is to change it," clarifying that "the project of consolidating schools and secondary schools is not a project to close schools. It is a project to freeze operations in some schools and share available buildings, and it is part of reorganizing the school map so that state resources serve student learning, rather than being distributed and scattered in a way that sometimes prevents us from providing the simplest elements of good education."

She considered that "we want to move from the concept of more schools to the concept of better schools. For us, the issue is not how many school buildings we kept open, but how many children we secured good education for. We want a school where students can find qualified teachers, effective administration, laboratories and libraries, technological resources, sports and artistic activities, educational and specialized services, and a safe and healthy environment that helps them learn. Hence comes the project of geographical school clusters. The idea is not just transferring students from one school to another," stressing that the idea is for a group of educational institutions within a close geographical range to integrate, and for us to reorganize resources, expertise, specialists, support services, equipment, and existing services among them, so that a larger number of students benefit. Most importantly, these clusters should embrace and enable schools capable of facing the learning loss accumulated on our children during the crisis years. This project is not separate from the Ministry's plan and strategic vision. It is part of a broader project we started to rebuild the official school: from collecting accurate data on school needs, to developing information systems, digitization, and governance, to training school leadership, gradually applying new curricula, developing assessment and exams, programs to address learning loss, and improving buildings and educational environments."

Ramy affirmed that "these are not scattered projects. They are parts of a strategic vision directing the Ministry's efforts in one direction: restoring the state's ability to secure the right to learn, and high-quality education, for every child in Lebanon."

She continued: "Here I come to the last point I consider fundamental. The official school cannot rise alone, nor can the Ministry succeed alone. We want the school to be part of its community. We want municipalities as partners. We want parents as partners. We want associations, local institutions, civil society, and the private sector as partners in supporting the official school. But we must also be clear about the meaning of this partnership," noting that "the partnership we want is not a new door for random hiring. Nor is it an entrance to reproduce clientelism within the official school. Nor is it a substitute for the state's responsibility."

Ramy stressed that "we want our partners to help us improve the school environment, equip schools, develop their activities and services, link them to their community, and support programs that address learning loss and expand learning opportunities for our children. As for the school's human and educational needs, they are determined by actual need, by data, by standards, and above all by the learner's interest," affirming that "the state does not abandon its responsibility when building partnerships; the state regains its responsibility when it organizes these partnerships and becomes the one determining priorities and standards and directing resources where students need them. This is precisely what we are trying to do in the Ministry of Education."

She added: "Therefore, I say to every municipality, to every civil society body, from associations, parties, unions, and links, to every political authority, and to every entity that truly wants to support the official school: We want you as partners. But I invite you to build this partnership around one question: What do our children need to learn best? Not what we want to keep as is. Nor whom we want to hire. Nor which building we want to protect. But what the student needs to learn, grow, and recover what they lost during the crisis years. And I also say to everyone who objects to the Ministry's decisions: Objection is a right, discussion is a right, and reviewing decisions when facts require it is a responsibility. But let us disagree for the sake of students, not at their expense. Let us place the official school outside political, electoral, and regional calculations. Because true defense of the official school is not by defending the number of its buildings or employees. We defend it when we increase its number of students. We defend it when we give them good education. We defend it when we empower its teaching and administrative staff. We defend it when we restore the trust of its parents and community. And we defend it when the state becomes able again to say to every child in Lebanon: Your right to learn is our responsibility, and we will invest all our resources, capabilities, and partnerships to secure this right with the best possible quality. This is the Ministry's direction and plan to rescue and strengthen the official school, and this is our project for school consolidation."

Ramy concluded by calling "everyone who believes in the official school to be a partner with us in realizing our vision."