One in four Beirut children could miss school after blast: IRC

Source: AFP Published: 2020/9/28 19:33:40

A quarter of school-age children in Lebanon's capital risk missing out on school after August's deadly port explosion, the International Rescue Committee aid group warned on Monday.

Lebanese firefighters try to put out a fire that broke out at Beirut's port area on Thursday. Thick black columns of smoke rose into the sky, as the army said it had engulfed a warehouse storing engine oil and vehicle tires. Photo: AFP

"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," it said in a statement.

IRC said the estimations were based on the impact of the blast alone, and did not take into account that of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"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," it added.

The massive explosion of a stockpile of ammonium nitrate at Beirut port on August 4 killed more than 190 people, wounded thousands more and ravaged buildings in the surrounding residential neighborhoods.

It was a devastating blow to a country already facing its worst economic crisis in decades and a series of lockdowns aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19.

IRC said the slow pace of rebuilding, parent concerns over the cost and safety of transport to alternative schools, and children being sent to work to help their struggling families could all keep pupils out of class.

"Overall, we are expecting to see far fewer children enrolled in schools this September and a high drop-out rate as the year progresses," said the aid group's acting Lebanon director Mohammad Nasser.
Newspaper headline: One in four children may miss classes


Posted in: ASIA-PACIFIC

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