Strategy & Concept development: A significant share of the Lebanese school infrastructure is characterized by small, rented schools in bad conditions. As Germany plans to support improvements to Lebanese school infrastructure, the Lebanese Ministry of Education requested the German government to finance larger school complexes in order to merge smaller schools. We critically assessed this approach, weighing potential benefits for educational quality and cost-efficiency against the risk of social tensions and conflict.
Project design & Evaluations: We conducted a pre-feasibility study to identify a suitable implementation modality and partnership structure and a feasibility study to develop a full concept for an open program. This included a detailed capacity analysis of the Ministry of Education to recommend the partnership structure and required implementation consultancy support. In addition, we conducted a detailed sector analysis, identified the process and the criteria for school site selection, estimated costs and analyzed environmental and social risks.
Process facilitation & Training: After years of post-war reconstruction with relatively little coordination, the Lebanese Ministry of Education lacked a systematic process to select locations for the future schools. We therefore facilitated a workshop among ministry staff from different departments (information systems, project coordination, GIS) to develop a feasible and targeted process and criteria to select school locations. We verified the feasibility of this approach through visits to potential land plots. In addition, we coordinated with all donors in the sector to agree on the process that had been developed by MEHE.