Has the Educational System in Lebanon Contributed to the Growing Sectarian Divisions?

Introduction

Education is commonly understood as a means not only of pedagogic instruction but also of attitudinal reform. Education connects language, culture, and moral values to shape and reshape one’s identity, and often has an influential role to social and political changes (Black, 1997). It is generally accepted that the basic mission of education is to facilitate social unity and to prepare new generations of responsible citizens for the social, political, and economic development of a nation (Heyneman & Todoric-Bebic, 2000). Promoting social stability requires knowledgeable, aware, and responsible citizens. That is why governments generally support school systems and seek to make education mandatory. Civil wars and sectarian conflicts can generally affect social stability, impede social development, and cause more turmoil for communities than any other social phenomenon, often leading to the reduction of social capacity and the hindrance of economic development. In the year 2000, during the World Economic Forum in Dakar, a study recognized that weakness in educational structure and content may have contributed to civil conflict and that an education system that reinforces segregation can represent a dangerous source of conflict (Frayha, 2009). It has been observed that citizenship and civility education can enhance social stability and peaceful resolutions to conflicts. Thus, they are essentially needed for stable economic growth and social development (Elbadawi & Sambanis, 2000).

The sectarian structure of the Lebanese political system has penetrated the educational system, leading to the reduction of social resilience and greater risk of sectarian violence in the country. Such a phenomenon has contributed tremendously to the current sectarian division in Lebanese society. Better educational approaches are thus necessary for the creation of responsible and socially aware citizens, as well as a culture of tolerance within the country. In general, the country’s substantial number of private schools (particularly religious ones) engages civic and citizenship education only marginally and tries to emphasize certain religious doctrine and consequently attracts students with similar religious backgrounds. Due to the sectarian nature of the Lebanese political system, the government has accepted such schools under the condition that they teach a core curriculum that includes civic education. However, such a compromise by the government has served merely to allow sectarian religious education to thrive in Lebanese communities, which facilitates the segregation of communities and marginalizes the role of schools as preparatory institutions for social development and progress. As a result of this approach to education, the Lebanese school system has long fostered the development of sectarian views in children at an early age, views that no doubt played a major role in the sectarian violence committed during the past decades.

The quality of education provided by private schools (non-government schools) and their high rates of success in national examinations have motivated many Lebanese parents to enroll their children in such schools, yet these parents neglect the potential risks involved in their child’s adoption of sectarian views or religious extremism. The term religious schools discussed in this article is associated with schools that are affiliated with a religious group or established church. It is clear that religious schools in Lebanon can provide excellent education in terms of a core curriculum, yet they fail to emphasize social unity, national identity, and cultural diversity, and do not foster interaction, tolerance, and open-mindedness toward students of different belief systems. Beyond the mere content of educational curricula, civility and open-mindedness must be taught and learned through interactions and sharing activities. Schools must teach citizenship and civility not simply by encouraging students to respect others, but by requiring students to engage and cooperate with students of different religious backgrounds in projects and activities (Gutmann, 1987).

Sectarianism represents a major challenge to social stability in Lebanon. Sectarian violence is commonly committed by religiously intolerant groups that terrorize, hurt, kill, or abduct people of differing faith to advance a political and social agenda. While the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) involved a multifaceted and interreligious conflict between Christians and Muslims, the recent sectarian conflict in Lebanon is wholly Islamic, involving Shia and Sunni Muslims. In general, the impact of sectarian violence on social unity and development is typically severe (Aver, Nnorom, & Targba, 2013). More specifically, the recent sectarian war in Syria has affected the lives of millions of Syrians, including many women and children who fled to neighboring countries as refugees, more than a million of whom moved to Lebanon (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade [DFAT], 2014).

Since the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990, sectarian violence has been sporadic, emerging briefly in 2008 and then more regularly in 2013. Although the Syrian sectarian crisis encouraged sectarian tensions and clashes among Lebanese Shia and Sunni Muslims, the most serious outcome of this crisis was the threat of sectarian violence to social stability in Lebanon. Recent violent activities in Lebanon, such as car bombs in and around the capital city of Beirut, sectarian fighting in the northern city of Tripoli, and missiles landing on residential areas in the eastern part of the country, have led to the killing of hundreds of innocent people and injury to thousands of others (DFAT, 2014).

The Influence of Lebanon’s Political System on Social Sectarian Divisions

Lebanon is governed by a parliamentary democratic republic based on a confessional approach to politics, which is a form of consociationalism. Consociationalism has been described as the most appropriate democratic model for divided societies (Lijphart, 2006), as it aims to support governmental stability, power-sharing arrangements, democracy, and violence prevention. Under this power-sharing structure, specific governmental offices are reserved for specific ethno-religious communities. Each election cycle, for example, the country’s president will be a Maronite Catholic, the prime minister will be a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament will be a Shia Muslim. In this way, the three most prominent confessional groups are guaranteed representation under the law (Friedman, 1989). Lebanon has 18 sectarian communities that live as separate nations under the umbrella of the Lebanese republic.

Over the last few decades, both confusion among these sectarian communities regarding the country’s national identity and major political issues have led to violent conflicts, sectarian wars, and population redistribution, each of which have served to widen the divide between these communities. Since the country’s independence in 1943, confessional disputes over Lebanon’s sovereign identity have been divisive in Lebanese society and, more particularly, among educational policy-makers (Salibi, 1988). Although the Ta-if peace agreement that ended the civil war in 1990 addressed this concern by defining Lebanon as an Arab state with a distinct Lebanese character and emphasized educational reform (Frayha, 2003), remaining concern over such issues still threaten social stability. Twenty-five years after the country’s civil war, the 40 higher-education institutions in Lebanon are still either predominantly Muslim or Christian, with others either affiliated with one religious sect or another (Anderson, 2010). As a result, with increasing political conflict and violence following the Israeli-Lebanese war in July 2006, university campuses became battlegrounds for political and sectarian student groups to express their resentment toward one another. Clashes broke out on several of these campuses and disrupted their educational processes (Abou-Jaoude, 2013; Akar, 2007; Preston, 2013).

Developed to protect the Christian community and preserve the balance of political power among the country’s major religious groups, the existing sectarian structure of the political system in the country originated during the French colonization of Lebanon (DFAT, 2014). However, the confessional state of Lebanon has kept its society deeply divided in its ultimate promotion of sectarianism over nationalism.

Before the civil war (1975-1990), the Lebanese political parties and leaders affiliated with Muslim communities felt in a state of unease and political disadvantage. Fearing political isolation, the Muslim community and its political leaders in Lebanon sought to strengthen their ties with Arab and regional regimes such as the Baathists of Syria and Iraq, the socialists of Egypt and Libya, and the Islamists of Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Muslim community in Lebanon thus has a poorly developed sense of national identity, identifying more with influential political party leaders who can provide social services and legal assistance. In fact, the poor social services of the Lebanese government have prompted Muslim community leaders to solicit financial assistance from regional countries and to form sectarian medical and educational organizations for the poor and needy in their communities. These organizations have lately played a significant political role in elections and (at times) the militarization of the people in sectarian violence. In Lebanon, the Shia are supported by and politically aligned with Iran, the Sunni are politically and financially indebted to Saudi Arabia and countries of the Arab Gulf, and Christians are politically loyal to the Vatican and France (Shelton, 2014). Thus, due to a lack of social unity and strong loyalty to regional powers, the prosperity of the Lebanese nation has been sacrificed to the interests of regional foreign powers.

National and Civic Education in the Curriculum

The presence of many European powers in the Middle East following World War I motivated many religious organizations to aid in modernizing the people of the region. This was particularly so for Lebanon, as it is a predominantly Christian country. The spread of elementary schools in Lebanon and Syria during this period had a significant impact on both countries. In 1894, for example, the Jesuits had 192 primary schools with roughly 8,000 boys and 3,000 girls as students, and the American Protestant Mission had 130 primary schools with more than 7,000 students. The Western effort to bring education to the region was considered a service rather than cultural intrusion. Christian missionary schools were indeed religiously motivated, but the religious sensitivity of the dominant Muslim population was respected, as Islam opposed any attempt intended to convert Muslims (Donohue, 2004).

By the turn of the 20th century, Lebanon had become the intellectual capital of the Middle East. Capitalizing on the reputation of its private educational institutions established by the early Christian missionaries, Lebanon has been able to provide educational services not only to those from Lebanese communities but also to Arab and Middle Eastern people looking to attend Lebanese schools and universities. The American University of Beirut (established 1866), Saint Joseph University of Beirut (established 1875), and the Lebanese American University (established 1885) each developed over time to become educational landmarks in the region (Rugh, 2002). However, in addition to these schools, Lebanon has witnessed the establishment of hundreds of Islamic private schools over the past few decades that have reinforced sectarian views among the Muslim population within the country.

After Lebanon achieved independence from France in 1943, the Lebanese government added the Arabic language and civic education (Akar, 2007) to public and private school curricula, with civic education becoming a required subject from Grades 1 to 12 (Frayha, 2003). The key motive of compulsory civic education was to reinforce social cohesion in the country. However, although the required civic education emphasized civil laws, civil behaviors, and a sense of nationalism, it inadequately addressed human rights education and national identity. Consequently, such education failed to encourage responsible and nationally conscious citizens (Kerr, 1999; Osler & Starkey, 2006). The uprisings of 1958 and the 15-year civil war (1975-1990) speak to the poor outcomes of the civic education program in the country and the weak social resilience among Lebanese communities. The ongoing social and political conflicts following the civil war in the country have deepened the divide between Lebanese communities and discouraged educational reforms to improve the civility of Lebanese society.

Lately, however, the subject of civic education has received increasing interest among Lebanese educational leaders. For example, Frayha (2003) has offered a comprehensive historical review of the progress of national and civil education in Lebanon dating back to the Ottoman Empire and concluding in the post-civil war era. El-Amine (2003) and Shuayb (2005) have produced an in-depth critical analysis of the curricular aims of citizenship education in Lebanon. Finally, Joseph (2005) has focused on the social construction of citizenship in urban and rural families. A revised version of national and civic education was implemented in the national curriculum in 1997 with the main objective of emphasizing peace, justice, and active participation in civil and political life in the country. This revision focused on adding issues of Lebanese and Arab identity as well as civil law to standardized textbooks in private and public schools across Lebanon published by the Ministry of Education (Akar, 2007).

The Failure of the Educational System to Build Social Unity

For many Lebanese educators, education is simply a matter of attaining knowledge through memorization or indoctrination. Such a view opposes the idea of education as a construction process (Dewey, 1923). Educational processes must take into consideration the way students think about and behave toward others with regard to race, politics, and religion. To develop responsible citizens, educational institutions must cultivate the practice of civility, for it is unlikely to be learned in family and religious settings, which tend to foster segregation among children with different socioreligious backgrounds and beliefs (Kymlicka, 1996). Many families, for example, are often patriarchal (Okin, 1992), many places of worship teach intolerance of other faiths, and various ethnic groups teach prejudice against other races. Each of these issues suggests that schools in the country should teach children critical reasoning skills to facilitate public rationality and tolerance.

In the late 1920s, the majority of schools in Lebanon were private and religious, whereas only 5% to 10% of students were in public schools (Frayha, 2009). The Lebanese governments have struggled and failed to control the educational system because of the unwavering political and religious opposition. Moreover, Article 8 of the Lebanese constitution of 1926 recognized freedom of education and therefore strengthened sectarian establishment. Communities were granted the right to organize their own schools. The former Lebanese governments were actually unable to enforce a specific curriculum on private schools and to contend with their domination on society. Numerous measures were taken to increase the role of the Ministry of Education following the independence in 1943, such as to centralize the educational system, to control the private schools, and to create a more secular education, but, until today, there is a common belief that education policies continue to reflect sectarian divisions (Frayha, 2004).

The high number of students enrolled in private schools leaves Lebanese public schools with only 37% of the cumulative student enrollment in the country (Nahas, 2011). For those who attend public schools, the curriculum is largely secular and gives special priority to the construction of national identity. However, due to the lack of religious diversity among student bodies and teachers, the majority of Lebanese public schools have failed to create an environment that fosters tolerance and open-mindedness toward students of different religious backgrounds. Thus, public schools currently do little to promote social unity and to reduce sectarian divisions within Lebanese society. Alternatively, the bulk of private schools in the country is overwhelmingly administered by religious communities and operates highly independent of government oversight (Shuyab, 2007).

Conscientious citizenship involves one’s willingness to hold authorities responsible for the betterment of people in the society. Hence, schools should emphasize critical thinking in relation to the abusive powers of authorities. Private religious schools in the country typically rely on teachings that preserve uncritical acceptance of tradition and authority (Macedo, 1990). Religious organizations often seek to establish private schools in the fear that children will be more likely to question traditional practices and be skeptical of religious and political authorities if they attend schools whose programs encourage free thinking. Private schools generally reinforce the sectarian views of the organizations behind them, whereas education in Lebanese public schools is more influenced by the demography in which a school is located. For instance, public schools located in Muslim towns are administered mainly by Muslim principals and teachers and attended mostly by Muslim students, whereas public schools in Christian areas mainly include Christian students and promote Christian views. Despite the fact that these public schools commonly encourage national patriotism along with religious inspiration, such segregation in public education prevents the social interaction between students required to overcome narrow views, radical thinking, fear of accepting others, and blind obedience to religious and political authorities in the country. Socialization of students of different socioreligious backgrounds has confirmed to promote mutual respect and may facilitate acceptance of each others. In fact, it is often believed that schools segregated by socioreligious groups may impede social unity (Heyneman, 2003). If the aim of education is to advance the social unity and development of a nation, then it should emphasize the creation of critical-thinking and responsible citizens who promote a culture of tolerance and peace, rather than passive subjects who are easily manipulated by the rhetoric of religious and political leaders.

In addition, the strong influence of religious authorities on educational reform has been a major challenge to promote social unity. For instance, previous attempts to legalize civil marriage have been strongly opposed by religious leaders, and they have persistently blocked educational curriculum reforms (Frayha, 2009). Religious institutions in Lebanon were also successful after the civil war to impose religious education in public schools despite the opposition of social secular groups and movements. Frayha (2009) revealed results of a research that has been conducted on 77 textbooks used for religious teachings in private Lebanese schools. The findings showed that these textbooks used discriminatory language based between “us and them,” “our faith and their faith,” “Christian and Muslim.” In addition, emphasis on teaching religious dogma and indoctrination was prevalent in the textbook materials. These results explicitly indicate that the promotion of religious teachings in the private schools has not been used as a tool to build social unity among the Lebanese students.

Social unity is fundamental for a pluralistic society to maintain stability and economic growth, yet Lebanon has never been able to establish such unity due to the failure of both its political and educational system in this regard. The lack of shared political principles and united sense of nationalism in the country has led to fragmented sectarian communities. The teaching of political principles such as justice, open-mindedness, tolerance, and respect is thus necessary for national unity. A shared vision of political principles will be necessary to maintain social unity and to reduce political conflicts in the country (Kymlicka, 1996). Social unity requires a sense of shared identity to maintain relationships of trust and solidarity, as well as to encourage the acceptance of democratic decisions (Miller, 1995).

Because Lebanon is a country of religious and political diversities, a shared identity among Lebanese communities must be based on respect for religious faiths, acceptance of democratic processes, unification against potential external threats, and common agreement with regard to history. In 2010, new teaching legislation was passed that aimed to improve the teaching abilities of educators over the following 5 years (Mattar, 2012). Yet no matter how qualified the teacher, the lack of a shared historical perspective among communities in the country will continue to impede Lebanese nationalism and facilitate ethno-religious segregation. Unfortunately, educational reform remains marginal, as influential religious leaders continue to perpetuate the current system (Van Ommering, 2011). To the present day, Lebanese officials are unable to agree on a common history book to be used in schools throughout the country, as each community teaches its own version of the national history. It is thus extremely important for the government of Lebanon to facilitate the development of a shared national history book to promote social unity.

Discussion and Recommendations

In a healthy educational environment in which schools promote diversity, tolerance, and critical thinking, interaction among students can greatly affect their open-mindedness toward those of different socioreligious backgrounds (Astin, 1993). By contrast, schools dominated by students with similar socioreligious beliefs may yield to the formation of rigid sectarian beliefs and poor attitudes toward others. Schools in Lebanon have traditionally been devoted to protecting and conserving cultural traditions, values, and religious beliefs through socialization. Although school curricula have been regularly reformed in the country to expose students to new knowledge and better prepare them for a career, such reforms have failed to address social change, tolerance, gender and religious equality, open-mindedness, and critical thinking. Overall, the youth of Lebanon require more than just information from the education system in the country. The youth require an educational environment that promotes diversity and interaction among people of different backgrounds. Being educated, attaining a college degree, and having the ability to speak a foreign language are not sufficient for building sustainable peace in the country. The youth demand an educational system that enhances social harmony, minimizes conflict, seeks to prevent wars, and encourages citizens to think critically about how to achieve long-term peace. When the Lebanese educational system emphasizes these skills, then the fundamental blocks of resistance against political and sectarian violence will have been laid. The purpose of education goes beyond career development to the core mental development of students, including their ability to distinguish facts from opinions, as well as to be critical, be imaginative, accept diversity, believe in equality, and promote compassion toward others. Such an education produces social strength while preparing students for a wide range of career opportunities in complex social settings.

But how can such education be implemented? Schools in Lebanon should be made to have a certain percentage of international teachers on board, as students should be taught by professionals with a wide range of political, cultural, demographical, and religious backgrounds to broaden and enrich their minds. Schools should also include students of various religious backgrounds and encourage these students to share activities and interact with each other. Such methods have been shown to have a direct and significant impact on the social development of students. Religious indoctrination must be abandoned and replaced by critical thinking and research initiatives. Ministries of Social Affairs and Education should sponsor humanitarian projects wherein students from different demographical regions and with different religious backgrounds work together for the betterment of society.

The current failure of the educational system in Lebanon to promote interaction and infuse national spirit and critical thinking in curricula has allowed young students to adopt dogmatic sectarian views without questioning the validity and rationale of such views. An indoctrination approach to teaching and learning, one which prefers learning by rote over critical-thinking and problem-solving skills (Rugh, 2002), is the most commonly utilized approach in Middle Eastern schools. Such a style has created generations of socially obedient followers with poor intellects and submissive personalities, individuals who represent easy targets for religious and political manipulation. The current lack of critical thinking in Lebanese schools represents a major deficiency that must be addressed to protect future generations from slipping into this fallacy. The failure to integrate such thinking into the country’s educational curricula has weakened the thinking skills of young students and thus increased their vulnerability to join sectarian groups and engage in sectarian violence.

Political reform along with educational initiative based on critical thinking and civility represent a promising approach for political stability and social unity. However, such courageous reform requires patience and support to induce a lasting change. It has become obvious today that delaying to reform education in Lebanon will be costly and potentially devastating for the country’s future.

Conclusion

Throughout all previously attempted reforms, the Lebanese educational system has not been able to mitigate the existing sectarian hazards and to promote social unity of the Lebanese society, but on the contrary, it has reinforced social instability and contributed to sectarian tension. Although the Lebanese civil war was influenced by regional and international political conflicts, the lack of promoting social unity and national identity in a well-structured national educational system was a central issue in facilitating the outbreak of the civil war in 1975. In addition, the destructive educational practices coupled with sectarian tensions and political conflicts have increased the risk of violence and wars among Lebanese communities. The Lebanese educational system must be empowered to mitigate sectarian hazards, promote social unity, preach tolerance, and advocate for human well-being. As it stands, the system does little to develop the resilience of Lebanese communities to sectarian violence and religious extremism, or to promote a culture of peace and tolerance within the country. Over the past few decades, sectarian divisions and conflicts have led to political tensions and civil war, reinforcing a culture of violence and hatred among Lebanese communities. Thus, the role of educational institutions today is more important than ever. The Lebanese educational system must undergo significant development in terms of its content and pedagogical approaches to achieve sustainable peace in the country. Lebanon’s thousands of schools must be encouraged to introduce new secular thoughts, critical-thinking skills, and the preaching of tolerance for the advancement of social development. Only through the implementation of a secular political system and newly reformed educational initiatives that promote national identity, social unity, civility, and critical-thinking skills can sectarian violence be mitigated and the impacts of future tragedies be reduced.