A high-quality educational system is one of the key pillars of a progressive society, so with the dawn of a new school year, it is important to examine the role and the number of schools and students in this sector. The educational structure in Lebanon is divided into three categories: General, Vocational and Technical, and Higher Education, with a public and private sector (in which a portion of the private schools are subsidized at the elementary level).

Number of schools, universities and institutes

In the year 2000-2001, schools in Lebanon numbered 2,671,distributed as follows:
• 1335 public schools (representing 50% of the total number of schools)
• 377 subsidized schools (14%)
• 959 private schools (36%)

As for the foreign language, French constitutes 59.4% , while English represents 19.6%, and 21% of schools teach in both English and French.

As for the foreign language, French constitutes 59.4% , while English represents 19.6%, and 21% of schools teach in both English and French.

The number of schools and institutes offering vocational and technical education are estimated at 374, 40 of which are public (10.7%) and 334 which are private (89.3%). Also, there are 40 universities and institutes which currently offer higher education.

In comparison to the academic year 1992-1993, there has been an increase of 311 schools offering general education, 112 institutes offering vocational and technical training and 20 universities and institutes for higher education, amounting to a total of 3,085 schools across all the categories for the current year.

Number of students and enrollment

General Education

The number of students in the pre-university general education level is estimated at 891,520 students, divided as follows:
• Kindergarten: 155,357
• Elementary school: 453,986
• Intermediate education: 180,233
• Secondary level: 101,944

These students are distributed by sector, as follows:
• 347,498 (39%): public sector schools.
• 111,200 (12.4%): subsidized schools.
• 422,823 (48.6%): private sector schools.

Comparing these figures to those of the 1992-1993 academic year, an increase of 120,921 students (equivalent to 15.7%) was observed. The public school sector witnessed the largest increase, of 111,678 students, whereas the private sector increase was limited to 12,700 students and the number of students in the subsidized schools decreased by 3,451 students.

Technical and Vocational Schools

The number of students enrolled in technical and vocational studies stands at 77,917 with 27.9% (21,743) in the public sector and 72.1% (56,174) in the private sector.
These figures are in comparison to the 1992-1993 academic year, when students numbered 44,651, an increase of 33,266 since that time. 27% of this increase took place in the public sector while 73% enrolled in private education.
 

University

The number of university students in Lebanon reached 119,487 in the 2000-2001 academic year, distributed as follows:
• 71,050 (or 59.5%) students in the Lebanese University
• 8866 (or 7.4%) students in the Beirut Arab University
• 7696 (or 6.4%) students in the University of Saint Joseph
• 5511 (or 4.6%) students in the American University of Beirut
• 4260 (or 3.5%) students in the Lebanese American University
• 4230 (or 3.5%) students in the Universite Saint Esprit, Kaslik
• 3563 (or 3%) students in Notre Dame University
• 14,457 (or 12.1%) students distributed among the remaining private universities

Compared to the 1993-1994 academic year, when the number of students stood at 74,810, an increase of 59.7%, or 44,677 students has been registered. Most of this upsurge is attributed to the Lebanese University, where the increase is estimated at 94.6% or 34,547 students.

Faculty

The number of faculty members across all educational institutes reached 102,096 in 2001-2002. This figure represents an increase of 30% (23,502 employees) as compared to the 1993 -1994 academic year. Rather than exploring the student-teacher ratios, these figures can be reviewed for their budgetary significance and they reveal the following:
• 38,834 employees in public sector education, equivalent to 9 students per staff member.
• 5,796 employees in subsidized schools, equivalent to 19 students per staff member.
• 37,042 employees in the private sector, equivalent to 12 students per staff member.
• 4,109 employees in the public vocational and technical sector, equivalent to 5.3 students per staff member.
• 6,856 employees in the private vocational and technical sector, equivalent to 8.2 students per staff member.
• 3,919 employees in the Lebanese University, equivalent to 18 students per staff member.
• 456 employees in the Beirut Arab University, equivalent to 19.4 students per staff member.
• 1,608 employee in the Universite Saint Joseph, equivalent to 4.8 students per staff member.
• 804 employees in the American University of Beirut, equivalent 6.8 students per staff member.
• 2,672 employees distributed among the other universities.

In summary, the 2000-2001 academic year witnessed a doubling in the number of universities and higher education institutes since the 1992-1993 academic year, as well as a 43% increase in the number of vocational and technical institutions, and finally, a rise of 13% in general education schools.