ABSTRACT

Lebanon has a long and renowned tradition of education that was created through local institutions, international influences and foreign religious groups such as the French Jesuits, other Catholic orders and American and British Protestant missions. In recent years, however, it is mostly political and religious influences that have shaped the character of the education system in the country. Like other countries with ethnic, religious and political tensions, civil unrest and a fractious and volatile past have influenced how Lebanon’s education system has been led and managed (Harrison, 2011. This chapter examines the situation by focusing on the following major themes: history and background, nature of the country’s education system, post-civil war developments and challenges that school leaders face.