Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he does not have a “magic wand” to fix all of the problems in Lebanon’s education sector, during a speech at the opening ceremony of the “national consultative meeting to save the education sector in Lebanon” on Monday. He also asked the body “to understand the situation of the government and [its] limited capacities.”

Here’s what we know:

    • "We don't have a magic wand to solve education problems all at once, but we certainly have the will and the determination to try," said the prime minister.

    • Mikati also asked the teachers of Lebanon “to cooperate to get through this difficult stage with minimum damage, and not to throw your demands all at once to the government, students and their families, especially since the public treasury cannot tolerate any expense except the most urgent matters.”

    • The education sector in Lebanon is currently plagued by a number of challenges, not least the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prevented consistent in-person lessons for close to two years. In addition, many teachers have experienced a sharp decline in their purchasing power due to the depreciation of the Lebanese lira against the dollars on the parallel market. As a result, many skilled teachers have left Lebanon for better job prospects, and those who have stayed are faced with expensive commutes to their schools as fuel prices have continued to rise. The economic collapse has also prevented many families from being able to afford school fees and purchase school supplies for their children.