Lebanon’s varsity crisis
Beirut – Beirut university student Mohammad El Sahily was close to graduating in computer science but uncertainty now clouds his future following a plunge in the Lebanese pound that has left him and thousands like him unable to pay their tuition fees.
With Lebanon facing its worst economic crisis, two private universities, the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the Lebanese American University (LAU) have raised the exchange rate their fees are based on to 3 900 Lebanese pounds (about R40) per dollar (about R15) – at a stroke making teaching almost three times more expensive for students paying in the local currency.
AUB student Sahily was studying for his final exams in December when he received an e-mail announcing the hike.
“[There was] fear, stress, desperation. I don’t know what I will do, I can’t afford paying for the spring [semester] if I want to take a full load [of courses], so I will have to either take two courses only or nothing at all,” he said.
“This is the case of around 80% of people I know.”
Sahily was one of many undergraduates who took to the streets in December to protest the universities’ move.
Leen Elharake, a LAU engineering student and vice-president of the student council, called it “catastrophic” and some students are now calling for a tuition strike.
Lebanon has traditionally prided itself on its education system, set up in the 19th century by American and French missionaries and producing a steady stream of graduates who land top jobs in the Middle East region and beyond.
But the pressure the system now faces – both from the economic crisis and a strict coronavirus lockdown that has banned face-toface teaching since 7 January – is weighing as heavily on the institutions as on the students.
The economic crisis has left the official peg of 1 500 pounds to the dollar that the universities used to use well out of step with the rate on the street, which has topped 8 500 in recent weeks.
LAU President Michel Mawad said the university was “forced” to increase the exchange rate to 3 900 – the central bank’s stipulated rate – to retain staff and operations.