Citizenship clubs fighting school drop outs

In Lebanon, 35% of youth between the age of 15 and 19 years old abandon school every year, according to the sources of the Mouvement social, an association engaged in human development for more than 45 years. Lately, the EU has been participating as well in this educational mission.

Malak Akil - Beirut, Eurojar

“One hand alone cannot clap” is a well-know saying that reflects well the joint efforts between the European Union and the Lebanese association for development, “Mouvement Social”, that aim at preventing school drop outs and helping the youth in difficulty overcome poverty and unemployment and become active members of the society.

Wars, political divisions, socio-economic problems and violence constituted the daily bread of the Lebanese for years; a sufficient doze to justify the increasing school dropout rates in the cedars land. In the 90s, the Mouvement Social began its struggle against school dropouts. With a series of support programs targeting students with special educational needs, the association was able to raise awareness about the gravity of the situation on the national level.

In 2002, the European Union launched the project of reinforcement of socio-economic integration of youth in difficulty in the society. This project had a double benefit on the Mouvement Social: in fact, thanks to the support of the EU, the association was able to achieve socio-economic integration of 3000 students who had dropped out of school, through intensive training. The association also carried out a program called professional club, which constitutes an alternative to school. It offers to the youth extra-curricular courses, socio-cultural and sports activities, as well as support to achieve integration in society. Following the success of those initiatives, the Mouvement Social launches subsequently an educational program, “school integration”, with the support of the European Union.

Fairuz Salamé, executive director of programs in the Mouvement Social, explains:”We conducted a study on 16 public schools in different Lebanese regions. It turned out that students in grades 3 and 7 are the ones that abandon school the most. The reasons for that are family problems, poverty, and instability in the country… Yet, some internal school factors also contribute to this high dropout rate, namely, the introduction of foreign language courses (French and English) in public schools, as well as the introduction of scientific courses in foreign languages. Not all students were able to cope with these changes, considered as a major obstacle.”

Specialized scholar support
Fairuz Salamé adds that the program of scholar support was launched in the year 2007. “We have chosen to focus on an alternative education, with a more personalized approach, that responds to the needs of each student in difficulty”, she explains.

Thereby, it has been decided, as a first step, to introduce 4 additional hours of foreign languages and scientific courses each week for concerned students. Students with special educational needs were invited to assist to special lessons after school. For this reason, it was necessary to mobilize a team of 32 specialists (of which 6 are psychologists, 8 social workers, and other school coordinators and Citizenship coordinators).

Salamé confesses that they faced a number of difficulties: besides violence and lack of concentration, we have been able to detect weakness in writing skills among the students of 3rd grade. It is important to note that school dropouts constitute a problem on the national level, yet, every region has its specificities, notes Salamé. “Besides our experience with teachers and school directors, we found out that a student from Akkar does not suffer from the same difficulties as a student from Beirut.”

In Akkar, where poverty prevails, parents are not familiar with the basic pedagogic principles necessary for kids in school. Accepting a psychologist to assist the kid is another “out of question” matter. “In this case, it is important to supplement the work of schools and not replace it. Our role is to offer students the help and support to pursue, in the best way possible, their scholar duties”, explains Salamé.

In Beirut, the main problem among students is violence. The team of the Mouvement Social works with the violent student to help him acquire a self-control attitude. These concerns were submitted by the Mouvement Social to the Ministry of Education during a forum on education and school drop outs. The recommendations were taken into consideration by the Ministry, points Salamé.

How does the EU contribution to the school integration program manifest? This contribution takes several aspects: funding, field follow-up of school drop outs, organization of an exchange forum between actors of the civil society, and promotion of the role of the Ministry of Education in the struggle against school drop outs. It is important to note that none of the Ministry’s responsible was ready to give an interview on this matter, despite the various attempts to contact them. “When we opened the file of school drop outs, we meant to address the issue from a collective point of view, with the help of the Mouvement Social, schools, teachers, parents’ committees and municipalities”, explains Fairuz Salamé.

One of the core activities in the school support program “Remedial Training” is the creation of the citizens club. This action consists of performing training sessions for trainees on the principles of citizenship. Trainees should, in their turn, transmit the information to students. Building self-confidence in students, and learning how to abandon violence towards other fellows were tips on the menu of the training sessions.

One of the main activities of the school support program was to organize elections for a class committee entitled to take in charge students claims. Salamé goes on to say that “after we have created the citizens club, we asked students to write a petition to private enterprises in their region, which will later be transferred to the municipality. Claims in the petition consisted of improving general condition of schools, such as changing curtains in classes, planting trees in the school premises as well as renovation works in recreation grounds…

This is how I am a good citizen
The issue of lack of drinking water has been raised for example in Rweissat School, in Sin el Fil, where the situation became unbearable. A petition has been submitted to the Civil Defense, to provide a weekly provision of drinking water to the school. De facto, “Citizenship and education are two tightly related topics”, assures Salamé. She adds that “the school support program funded by the European Union was of great help to the youth in difficulty. The help came essentially in the matter of citizenship. Thanks to the clubs of citizenship created both in Beirut and in Mount-Lebanon, students got initiated to the principles of elections and realized the importance of each individual’s voice in the realization of a collective project”.

On a piece of paper, students of the 3rd and 7th grade composed their electoral program. On the basis of this program, they voted for this or that candidate. Once the results were announced, electoral promises had to be transferred into actions. The committee then got set to claim a series of demands: enlargement of green spaces, embellishing school walls, cleaning up school recreation grounds… All these demands were crowned by a slogan:”This is how I am a good citizen”. In an effort to diffuse the information, sixteen documentaries were prepared highlighting the activities of the citizenship clubs of the Mouvement Social in several Lebanese regions, with the financial support from the European Union.