By Nohad Topalian | 2024-05-09

BEIRUT -- Hizbullah's intervention in the conflict between Israel and Hamas could cost thousands of high school students in south Lebanon the chance to graduate and enter college, educators and guardians warn.

Schools in south Lebanon have shut down as Hizbullah turned the border villages into a war front, forcing many residents to flee.

As a result, thousands of students could fail to graduate on time this year, as the interruptions in their schooling imperil their chances of passing the official Baccalaureate exams, a prerequisite for graduation.

The Ministry of Education announced last week that this year's exams will kick off June 24 and continue through July 5.

Students seeking high school diplomas "are paying the price for the repercussions of the war, because they did not have a normal academic year," said Bishop Maroun Ghafri, principal of Alma al-Shaab public high school.

"We opened our high school on October 8 and 9, then closed it after Hizbullah opened the southern front in al-Dahira, which is near us, after which 90% of the residents left town," he told Al-Fassel.

Students of all sects from 13 villages attend Alma al-Shaab, Ghafri said.

Most of them were displaced and some enrolled in schools in their displacement areas, while the majority turned to online learning, he said.

"Not all the students were able to continue their education because of technical issues or the economic circumstances of their families," he added.

'Their future hangs in the balance'

Alma al-Shaab high school resumed education online on January 16, Ghafri said, adding, "We completed the entire curriculum but couldn't assess the competency of the students."

School leaders and educators in border villages have asked authorities to reduce the number of test subjects that their students are expected to take, he said.

"But the question remains, where can students who have not been displaced from their villages take the exams, and who will be responsible for their transportation?"

"I am concerned for the students pursuing their diploma, because their future hangs in the balance," Ghafri said.

"To this day, I don't know whether my twin sons will be able to take the official exams," said a father of two high school students who asked to withhold his name.

The twins have continued their studies online after their family was displaced by heavy bombardment, the father told Al-Fassel.

"What have my children and the children of the border strip done to deserve losing their school year?"

"Hizbullah turned our villages into weapon depots... and dragged the south into a war in which we have no stake, destroying our villages and the future of our children," he said.