48 EDUCATION: A GENERATIONAL ADVANCEMENT While access to education was lower for stateless adults, stateless children captured from the parents’ survey seemed to enroll into schools in higher proportions. Parents appear more aware of the importance of education, despite the fact that not all schools are enabling access to stateless children. The rate of stateless children going to school is similar across the surveys conducted in Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon, with 55% and 57% attending respectively. This is aligned with the previous mapping from Akkar which showed the same rate of 55%. The numbers remain much lower than for Lebanese children across the 3 areas, yet they appear higher than the stateless adults survey, indicating a clear generational advancement on that level. Among those not sending their children to schools, the reasons parents invoked mainly hinted at the lack of awareness that access to education was a right even for MeQ and under-study children. At the same time, most of the schools visited in Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon also showed a complete dismissal of the right of stateless children to enroll, without actually realizing the discriminatory character of such policy. For example, the team found that some schools in several villages of Iqlim el Kharoub were not admitting stateless children. In other places such as in the Metn district or in Chatila, stateless children were reported to be treated differently than their Lebanese peers. Some schools even request double the tuition fees, considering stateless children as “foreigners”. In addition, some schools are threatening their stateless students with expulsion if they remain unable to provide identification documents, considering ta’arif cards “unofficial”. Finally, the fieldwork revealed that many stateless students, even though attending school, were unable to receive formal certifications for their curriculum years. Fig 9. Are your school-aged children (3-18) going to school? 12% 28% 27% 88% 78% 55% Stateless Children Greater Beirut “ 15% 22% 57% Lebanese Children 13% 23% 16% 17% Stateless Children 7% 15% Lebanese Children Stateless Children Mount Lebanon Yes 72% 55% Not all of them Lebanese Children Akkar No The priority is for Lebanese students, then refugees. If we still have empty places, then we will let you in and admit your stateless children. — School principal in Burj Abi Haidar © 2023 Siren Associates. All Rights Reserved.