Disparities
in the indicators of education are associated with differences in the
respective shares of the public and private sectors in the various
levels of education. The expansion of public education has played a
basic role in providing opportunities for low-income groups to acquire
an education, and opened before them chances for social promotion,
especially in the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s. However, lack
of equality of opportunities remained a problem with respect to the
higher levels of education, especially in the applied disciplines and
specializations. These disparities were accentuated during the war years
and subsequently due to the diminishing importance of public education,
from about 45 percent of the total student population in 1972-1973, to
30 percent in 1995.
The gap was filled by the private and civil sectors. Private free
schools supported by the government, especially schools which were
set-up by religious and charitable organizations, assumed an important
and increasing role in providing education to students coming from
households with limited incomes. Grants and financial assistance from
social and political groups also played a role in making higher
education accessible to another number, inside Lebanon and abroad.
The facts confirm the social import of belonging to a public school, or
to a private free school. It appears that 57.4 percent of students
enrolled at public schools in Beirut and its suburbs in 1995 came from
poor households; the percentage attaining 61.3 percent in private free
schools.
In the scholastic year 1994-1995, public schools accommodated 30 percent
of all students enrolled in general education, and 22 percent of those
in vocational education. The distortion is at its highest at the
pre-elementary and elementary levels, with a public sector share of 14.7
percent and 29.3 percent, respectively. This share, however, rises
gradually as the level of education becomes higher, to reach its peak at
the university level (the share of the Lebanese University is around 59
percent of total university students). Even when the share of free
private schools is taken itno consideration, the share of private
non-free schools remains high, especially when their share in vocational
and technical education (amounting to 78 percent of students in these
fields) is included.
|
Table
59. Percentage share of public and private schools in the total number
of students according to level of education
(Scholastic Year 1994-1995) |
| Education level |
Public |
Private-free |
Private-not
free |
Total |
| Pre-elementary |
14.7 |
17.3 |
67.9 |
100 |
| Elementary |
29.3 |
23.2 |
47.5 |
100 |
| Intermediate |
39.5 |
- |
60.5 |
100 |
| Secondary |
40.2 |
- |
59.8 |
100 |
| Total |
30.0 |
14.0 |
56.0 |
100 |
|
The shares of the public and
private sectors also vary according to regions. The share of private
non-free schools is at its peak in Beirut and its suburbs (around 75
percent). Field observations indicate that private schools are
widespread in the less deprived regions, whereas public schools and free
private schools are to be found in the more deprived regions .
|
Table
60. Distribution of students and schools between the public and private
sectors according to mohafazats
(Scholastic
year 1994-1995) |
| dsfsdfgsdgsdgfjshgdfgasdjhgf
fbc |
Beirut |
Beirut's
suburbs |
Mount
Lebanon |
The North |
Bekaa |
The South |
All
Lebanon |
| Students
(percent) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Public
|
16.2 |
13.5 |
31.9
|
40.6
|
34.3
|
45.5
|
30 |
| Private-free
|
9.4 |
11.4 |
13.0 |
13.0
|
22.9
|
15.5
|
15 |
| Private-non
free |
74.4 |
75.1 |
55.1
|
46.4
|
42.8
|
39.0
|
55 |
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
| Schools (percent)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Public |
28 |
22 |
56 |
67 |
55 |
63 |
51 |
| Private-free |
12 |
17 |
14 |
12
|
19 |
15 |
15 |
| Private non-free |
60 |
61 |
30 |
21 |
27 |
22 |
34 |
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
|
| These divisions are related to
the quality of education and disparities in scholastic achievement among
regions and social categories. A study by the Ministry of Education
shows that the lowest level of achievement was recorded in the
mohafazats of the North, the South and Bekaa . A similar disparity could
also be noted depending on the sector of education. Only 50.4 percent of
students enrolled at public schools achieved an acceptable level of
academic competence, whereas the corresponding percentage reached 64.8
percent in free private schools, and 77.1 percent in private non-free
schools. |
