Lebanon

Lebanon's emphasis on education is evidenced by the existence of three active ministries relating to educational matters. They are the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport; the Ministry of Vocational Education; and the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education. However, the educational system and its administration are still highly centralized in the country despite continuous efforts to give more control to regional and provincial departments. Instead of only one ministry of education controlling everything, now the government has three ministries that control all important aspects with regard to the educational system in the country and the way it is financed. The three ministers are always members of the Council of Ministers and belong to political parties. The General Director of each ministry is directly responsible to the respective minister concerning everything in the ministry. In addition to these general directors, the Lebanese University and the National Conservatory of Music are controlled by the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education; the Center for Educational Research and Development is controlled by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport.

The Central Administration, which is located in the capital (Beirut), includes the following departments: Primary, Intermediate, Secondary Education, and Examination. In addition to these, there are the following central offices or sub-departments: Private Education, Teacher Preparation, Educational Research, Cultural Affairs and Fine Arts, and the National Library. Besides these departments in the Central Administration, there are regional sub-administrations composed of the following departments: National Education for North Lebanon, National Education for Mount Lebanon, National Education for South Lebanon, and National Education for the Bekaa. Vocational Education is controlled by the Ministry of Vocational Education and contains the following departments: Administration and Execution, Supervision and Examinations, and Technical Affairs. In each ministry, there is a directorate for administrative affairs who coordinates administrative services among the different sections of each ministry through the offices of Auditing, Personnel, Equipments and Common Affairs, and Legal Studies and Statistical Information.

The Central Inspection Administration, which was established and maintained as a separate entity in 1959, inspects and supervises the Lebanese educational system through inspecting all public offices and agencies according to rules and regulations set out by the ministries of education. This administration is directly and closely supervised by the Council of Ministers. Each of the three ministries regulates its institutions' curricula and administers the official external exams after completion of certain educational levels. Because of these functions, some uniformity in academic programs and levels has been accomplished. Each ministry appoints teachers on a competitive basis, except graduates from the teacher training institutes who are automatically hired and assigned to certain positions or locations as needed. Teachers are considered government employees and, thus, get paid salaries by the government through their respective ministries.

Financially, public schools mostly depend on the central government's budget. A very few local groups or international agencies may provide some support in the form of donations for public schools. An average of 16 percent of the government budget is normally devoted for educational purposes.

The bulk of educational research is conducted by the Center for Educational Research and Development. However, the various colleges at the Lebanese University and teacher training institutions constitute major contributors to educational research. Most of the research is in the applied or experimental areas, which has resulted in improving the quality of textbooks and producing an abundance of theses and dissertations.