Lebanon, Diversity and Education in

The Formation of Confessional Communities in Lebanon

Compared to its relatively small size and an estimated population size of four million inhabitants, Lebanon accommodates Christian and Muslim communities splintered into an unusual number of religious sects. According to Kamal S. Salibi, these communities originally settled in the former Ottoman-ruled Arab territories that form, among other countries, present-day Lebanon. These confessional communities are of four types: minorities that fled religious persecution from neighboring countries (e.g., Christian Maronites, Armenians, Muslim Shiites, and Druzes); minorities that were [Page 1375]proselytized by Protestant and Jesuit missionaries (e.g., Greek Orthodox); minorities that resided in territories that were annexed to Lebanon by the French Mandate in 1920 (mainly Muslim Sunnites and Shiites, and Greek Orthodox); and other minorities such as Kurds, Iraqis, and Palestinians who fled persecution from neighboring countries to reside in Lebanon as refugees.

Scholars and writers such as Hilal Khashan, Leila Meo, Kamal Abouchedid, and Michael Hudson have argued that confessional communities continue to experience difficulty in reaching common ground regarding the governance of Lebanon. Lebanon's disputatious politics are also nourished partly by its educational system.

The Establishment of Educational Institutions

Lebanon's diversity is mirrored in its educational institutions. These institutions are differentiated by sector (public and private), model (American, French, and Arabic), cultural affiliation (Islamic, Christian, and nonreligious), and language of instruction (Arabic, French, and English). One of the most important legacies related to diversity of education in Lebanon is freedom of education promulgated in Article 10 of the Constitution of April 23, 1926, which grants religious communities the right to establish their own schools. Taking advantage of freedom of education, Christian and Muslim schools continue to socialize their students in very different ways. Munir Bashshur has described the role of education during the war period of 1975 to 1990 in his book chapter, “The Role of Education: A Mirror of a Fractured National Image.”

National Identity

The General Principles of the 1997 curricula are related to a section of the Lebanese Constitution that emphasizes national identity, that is, pride in the country, in belonging to it, and in commitment to its causes. While the bilateral Christian and Muslim unwritten agreement in 1943 known as the National Pact stipulated the Christians would abdicate European protection and Muslims would agree to forgo any pan-Arab desires, constitutional amendments introduced in 1989 by the Taif Agreement (officially, the Document of National Accord) and implemented in 1990 were reflected in the national identity aspect of the new curricula, namely to form a citizen proud of his or her Arab identity and of his or her belonging to the Arab world, and committed to both. Some argue that there is lack of alignment and consistency among the general goals of the curricula and the specific goals of subject matter. In other words, there may be a gap between the objectives of the curriculum and the content of textbooks, in addition to discrepancies among schools regarding the interpretation of national identity.

...