The International Rescue Committee has warned that a quarter of Beirut's children may not be able to return to school as a result of the port blast that took place on the 4th of August.
The report states that the schools that the children attend are no longer in a fit state to allow classes to return and that education could be severely disrupted going into the future unless urgent action is taken. This doesn't take into account the ongoing CoVid-19 pandemic which has already disrupted education both in Lebanon and across the world. There therefore exists a double-threat to the ongoing educational development of children in the country.
The United Nations Children's Fund believes that the destruction to both public and private educational facilities means that at least 70,000 students and 7,600 teachers are directly affected going forward. This does not take into account the huge number of students and teachers emotionally traumatised by the explosion or the ongoing difficulties they face as a result of the incident.
In a statement, the International Rescue Committee said:
"With 163 schools damaged by the Beirut explosion, at least one in four children in the city are now at risk of missing out on their education. Over 85,000 pupils were registered at the schools damaged by the blasts and it will take up to a year for the most severely damaged buildings to be repaired."
The organisation's acting Lebanon director, Mohammad Nasser, added:
"We expect that many families with daughters will not allow them to attend school due to fears for their safety on public transport. Overall, we are expecting to see far fewer children enrolled in schools and a high drop-out rate as the year progresses."
The explosion took place on the 4th of August and killed almost 200 people, many thousands suffered injuries, and thousands of buildings and homes were destroyed. The explosion occurred as a result of poorly stored ammonium nitrate that had been sitting unattended for several years. Experts believe that the explosion had the power of around 10% of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War.
Many of those who worked for the port authority have been placed under house arrest until a full investigation is completed. However, fears rocked the capital just weeks later when a further fire broke out and even more tonnes of ammonium nitrate were discovered, causing many Beirut citizens to flee for their lives.
Even before the port explosion and the CoVid-19 pandemic, Lebanon had been facing the worst economic crisis in its history and mass protests against the fall in living standards.
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