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Number of Syrian refugee students in Lebanese public schools rises: UN

Xinhua, June 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

The number of Syrian refugee children enrolled in public schools in Lebanon has risen by 152 percent over the last three academic years, a UN report said.

The increase is due to campaigns of the Lebanese government and outreach efforts made by international partners, according to the report of the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Dubbed "UNHCR Lebanon: Back to School," the report showed that 157,984 refugee children, from Kindergarten to grade nine, were enrolled in formal public education in the country in January 2016 up from 106,735 a year earlier and 62,664 in 2013-2014.

In 2012, the Lebanese Ministry of Education opened the doors of public schools to Syrian refugee students, giving them a chance for education that they would otherwise have been denied.

Under the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan, a joint Lebanese government-UN initiative, about 267 million U.S. dollars were received for the sector in 2015, up from 98.8 million dollars in 2014.

According to the UNHCR, Lebanon hosts more than 1.1 million Syrians who fled their war-torn country since the uprising against the government of President Bashar Assad erupted in March 2011.

The UNHCR estimates that half of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon are women and children. Endit