Public schools in Lebanon can reopen from Monday

 Schools across Lebanon will be able to reopen next Monday, following the implementation of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, the country’s education minister announced Wednesday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

Most of the country’s public schools were used as shelters for displaced people during the Israel-Hezbollah war. In early October, a United Nations official said that 75% of Lebanon’s public schools had been converted into shelters. The UN’s refugee agency has said that at least 1.3 million people in Lebanon were displaced during more than a year of fighting.

Now that those who were sheltering have begun to return to their homes, schools will be able to assess their conditions and resume educational activities from next week, Lebanon’s Minister of Education and Higher Education Abbas Halabi said, as reported by NNA. Many schools will need repairs before being able to fulfil their full educational capabilities again.

Private schools will resume both in person and remote learning until the end of the year, as many students and their families will be outside of Lebanon, Halabi said, according to NNA.