Back to Contents The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in 2021: “10.6 Access to education […] For Non-ID refugees, access to education after high school is almost impossible because they cannot pass an official admission test or leave the refugee camps without a legal residence permit. Preparatory education is the highest level of education available in the camps. Non-ID refugees cannot attend vocational education through UNRWA. (Pp. 58-59)” (In-house translation. The translator is a native Dutch speaker) ORIGINAL SOURCE “10.6 Toegang tot het onderwijs […] Voor Non-ID vluchtelingen is toegang tot opleiding na de middelbare school bijna onmogelijk omdat zij zonder legale verblijfsvergunning niet aan een officiële toets voor toelating kunnen voldoen of de vluchtelingenkampen niet kunnen verlaten. Het voorbereidend onderwijs is het hoogste opleidingsniveau wat er in de kampen beschikbaar is. Non-ID vluchtelingen kunnen geen beroepsonderwijs via UNRWA volgen.” (Source: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Thematisch ambtsbericht Palestijnen in Libanon”, January 2021, pp. 58-59) School drop-out and impact of Covid-19 8.4. Are data available on the impact of Covid-19 on school drop-out? The Middle East Monitor, a not-for-profit press monitoring organisation and lobbying group that largely focuses on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, reported on the topic of Palestinian refugee children’s education in Lebanon: “The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) has highlighted its concerns about the condition of refugee children in Lebanon, Safa News Agency reported on Monday. Speaking at the 49th meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, the representative of the advocacy group explained the economic and social difficulties facing Palestinian refugee children in Lebanon and called for urgent relief for them. ‘The Palestinian refugee children in Lebanon are still suffering due to the harsh economic conditions which were aggravated due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of schools for more than a year,’ he explained. ‘They are living and working under very difficult conditions and are subject to mistreatment and exploitation.’ The PRC pointed out that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has registered more than 60,000 children among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, making up 30 per cent of the total. Most of them are unable to attend Lebanese schools.” (Source: Middle East Monitor: “Palestinian advocacy group highlights condition of refugee children in Lebanon”, 15 March 2022) The news agency Aljazeera published an article in December 2021 about child labour among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon: “Rochdi [UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon] sounded the alarm on child labour, child marriage and psychological distress among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, a country hit by one of worst economic crises in more than a century, according to the World Bank. UN officials said that since last summer, almost 60 percent of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have eaten fewer meals to cope with high medical and food prices. Some 1,200 students have dropped out of school.” (Source: Al Jazeera, “UNRWA in ‘race against time’ for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon”, 19 January 2022) 8. Access to education for children 82