Beirut

Ahmed is a taxi driver. No-one gets rich with this job in Germany – and definitely not in Lebanon. Ahmed has to provide for his family with three children by driving a taxi; two of his sons already go to school. Although he and his family do not have a lot of money, he decided to send his children to a private school. This costs him 2,000 dollars a year per child, a small fortune in Lebanon. “I don’t want my children to go to a state school”, Ahmed says, “they already send them home at 12.”

Somehow that sounds familiar. The same as in Germany, the state school system does not have the best reputation in Lebanon. Everyone who can afford it chooses a private school. There are no public statistics; virtually no-one is interested in numbers and figures in this country. However, it is regarded as certain that most Lebanese children attend non-state schools today.

Whereas the private schools in Lebanon nearly all are schools with a religious background. Christian schools have a long tradition; some of them were already established in the 19th century. Recently, however, more and more Muslim schools have made a name for themselves, too. Among others, the “Amal Educational Institutions”, a Shiite initiative that has been operating seven schools in the country since 1991. “The Lebanese state was too weak to develop a good schooling system”, Ali Naim Khreiss, General Manager of the Amal schools, states. Therefore the religious groups had taken the initiative.

In the south of Beirut, Amal runs the school Hassan Kassir, a huge institution with 10,000 children and 1,400 employees. “We teach Islamic religion, but also provide the children with information about other religions”, the school’s headmistress, Fatima Fadlallah, says. She wears a headscarf, but emphasises that this is not demanded from the girls at all. “We are open and have Christian teachers. In addition, we keep up cooperations, among others with a Catholic school.” Hassan Kassir’s children wear school uniforms; there even are special track suits for physical education. Headmistress Fadlallah emphasises that “competition among the pupils for the most fashionable clothes” is avoided this way. With the help of the school fees (1,000 dollars per child and year), state subsidies and private donations, the school was able to build a respectable building with very well-equipped rooms for physics and chemistry courses.

The pupils of the Schneller School do not wear school uniforms. But this school located in the Bekaa plain also has specialist rooms with a good standard and various workshops. The school established in 1952 near the village Khirbet Kanafar (60 kilometres east of Beirut) was named after the German missionary and pedagogue Johann Ludwig-Schneller, who founded a Syrian orphanage for children of all religions in Jerusalem in 1860. Despite the Christian sponsors – among others, it is supported by the Protestant “Missionswerk” in Stuttgart – the majority of children are Muslim. “We are no missionaries; we teach tolerance”, says headmaster George Haddad. Every child should follow its own religion as long as it does not preach violence. The Schneller School celebrates Christmas and Easter, but also Islamic feast days. “Our main focus is not religion, but ethics that are binding for everyone”, the Protestant pastor George Haddad says.

To this day, the Schneller School accommodates orphans. Poor families do not have to pay school fees (1,000 dollars). The school is also known for its dual training system. Young people can undergo professional training while also attending school. There is a mechanic’s, carpenter’s, baker’s and car workshop. Most of the machines and tools there were donated by German companies. One of the pupils learning to be a car mechanic is 16-year-old Waled. “I like being here; also because discipline is demanded”, he says. “The state schools don’t place so much value on discipline.”

The Schneller School teaches English and German. In the class 6b, German teacher Claude Zino is teaching the children a new song on that day. It is called “It’s so terribly cold in school“, it is called. The origins of lyrics and melody are unknown; it is probably completely unknown in Germany. But the children are eager to participate.