Equality of Opportunity in Education and Training - Government Education Programmes - Lebanon

General Education Project (2000-2005)

The project aims at supporting the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in improving the management and institutional capacity of the general education system, promoting equity of educational opportunities, and generally reinforce the quality and efficiency of the education system.

The project consists of:

Part A: Improving and Modernizing General Education Facilities;

Part B: Management and Institutional Development:

• Establishing a system for providing the administration with educational information through the Center for Educational Research and Development.
• Restructuring administrative units.
• Rationalizing the personnel department.
• Implementing pilot operations with headmasters of public schools.
• Establishing a work plan for creating mechanisms for financing the educational system;

Part C: Promoting quality (in teachers, inspectors, official testing system) and introducing technology into the teaching process;

Part D: Project Management .

Development of Educational and Curricular Framework

The Council of Ministers approved the New Framework for Education in Lebanon in 1995 (Decision No. 22). This Framework had been agreed upon through nationwide workshops attended by representatives of all educational institutions in Lebanon, both public and private. Decree No. 10227 of 1997 (Item 2 of Article 3) further stipulated that curricula should be reviewed and revised every four years. Before proceeding with the review, evaluation workshops are to be held with the educational institutions concerned with the Framework and curricula in public and private educational institutions as well as local communities.

Main subjects in the development of the New Framework are identified as:

• General objectives for each educational cycle
  
• Specific objectives of each unit
  
• Number of weeks/days of the school year
  
• The Brevet (Intermediate cycle certificate)
  
• Age of admission to each stage and cycle
  
• Duration of each stage and cycle
  
• Relation between general education and vocational and technical education
  
• Branching in secondary stage
  
• School clubs
  
• Learning difficulties
  
• School assessment and principles of promotion
  
• Teaching procedural subjects
  
• Preparation, training and retraining
  
• Other subjects, at the request of participating institutions and government departments
  

Issues also part of the Framework development:

• Global education, integration of educational materials, and school kit
  
• Sex education
  
• Integration of environmental education with the other subjects
  
• Integration of health education with the other subjects
  
• Integration of demographic education with the other subjects