Tent Schools, Beqaa Valley

The beginning of the Syrian civil war in March 2011 triggered the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War. Around 6.2 million people were displaced within the country and around 5.6 million fled outside their home country. The main burden of those seeking protection is shouldered by Syria’s neighbouring states. One of them is Lebanon, where almost 950,000 Syrian refugees are registered. Measured by its population of around 4.5 million, the state has thus taken in the largest number of Syrian refugees. However, Lebanon already had political, social and above all economic problems before the Syrian refugee crisis began, which are now being exacerbated. In particular, the many children living in the various refugee camps have little chance and hope for a positive future without any access to education.

With this project help alliance together with the association Zeltschule e.V. supports the construction of tent schools for Syrian children in Lebanon and enables the children in the refugee camps to attend school. As the infrastructure has already been destroyed in many parts of Syria, the aim of the project is to enable the tent schools to move to Syria. The project is located in the Beqaa Valley, in the east of Lebanon.

With the support of help alliance a new school was built for 300 children aged five to 14 years. Most of the Syrian refugees have fled to the structurally weak region of the Beqaa Valley. About half of the refugees are children whose school education was interrupted by flight and expulsion. Hardly any of them have been able to attend a formal educational institution since the beginning of the war, and due to Lebanese refugee policy they are in almost all cases excluded from any state education in the country. Especially when they return to their home country, they have little chance of leading an independent life without any school education.

Apart from the children, the other people in the refugee camps also benefit from the project, as the project also provides food and medical care, as well as literacy and vocational training.

Since the infrastructure for school education will be lacking in Syria after the end of the war, the tent schools will move to Syria and continue their education there. All families of the tent school are obliged to ensure that their children attend school according to Syrian compulsory education. On site, the children are taught with Syrian school books according to the Syrian curriculum and even receive a certificate at the end of the school year. This ensures that the children can be reintegrated into the schools when they return to Syria.

In the tent schools, the basis is laid for the children to have a better chance of working, earning their own income and thus being able to lead a self-determined life.

With your donation you support us in financing the teachers’ salaries as well as the school materials, so that the children can get a chance for education even in the current situation. Food and medical care are also financed by the project.