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STORY: LEBANON / SCHOOL REFUGEE CHILDREN
TRT: 01:48
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 27 OCTOBER 2015, BEKAA VALLEY, LEBANON
27 OCTOBER 2015, BEKAA VALLEY, LEBANON
1. Wide shot, children gathering at school’s assembly hall
2. Close-up, Malik, a Syrian refugee, standing in line
3. Med shot, Malik and other children standing in line
4. Various shots, children walking towards their classrooms
5. Med shot, teacher in class
6. Med shot, 8 year-old Syrian refugee Sidra, sister of Malik, in class
7. Wide shot, teacher in class
8. Various shots, Malik and Sidra doing their homework at home
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Syrian refugee and mother of Malik and Sidra:
“They used to look at school children and feel upset because they couldn’t go to school. I could feel their pain, but I didn’t say anything.”
10. Various shots, children walking to bus stop and waiting for bus
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sidra, Syrian refugee:
“I can’t read, that’s why I find it difficult, I feel like I am behind.”
12. Various shots, children during class
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Malik, Syrian refugee:
“With English you learn a new language, which is useful for the future if one become a teacher and travels.”
14. Wide shot, teacher in class
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Syrian refugee and mother of Malik and Sidra:
“Now that they have started school, they seem much better. They are so happy and relieved to be in school. They now have friends, and are in a different environment.”
16. Med shot, Malik and Sidra walking into the house with their mother
17. Various shots, Sidra and Malik looking out from balcony
Tens of thousands of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are expected to return to school, the UN refugee agency says, as more funding to support their education is pouring into the country.
Sidra and her brother Malik are already benefitting from the extra funds, which UNHCR says have created a total of 100,000 new places in schools across the country.
“They used to look at school children and feel upset because they couldn’t go to school. I could feel their pain, but I didn’t say anything,” said the mother of the two Syrian children.
In October, UNHCR announced the Lebanese Ministry of Education had launched a nationwide ‘Back to School’ campaign to invite all parents to register their children in school. The campaign was made possible with the support of US $94 million through UNHCR, UNICEF, the World Bank and bilateral donors.
UNHCR also said some Syrian refugee children face difficulties in keeping up with the Lebanese curriculum because of language barriers.
In Lebanon, maths sciences are taught in either English or French, while in Syria, these are taught in Arabic. UNHCR is scaling up homework support groups to help children stay in school and overcome curriculum and language challenges.
“I can’t read, that’s why I find it difficult, I feel like I am behind,” said Sidra.
“With English you learn a new language, which is useful for the future if one become a teacher and travels,” added Malik.
UNHCR is particularly aiming to encourage children who have been out of school for over a year as well as children living with disabilities to integrate in the Lebanese educational system.
With refugees having exhausted their resources and savings, many refugee parents are left with no choice but to send their children to work. Over the past school year, some 6,000 families were forced to withdraw their children from school.
