AL- Amal Teaching Centers

Al-Amal Teaching Centers

MAPs supports nine schools, each located inside informal tented settlements across Bekaa and Arsal. Collectively, these schools are referred to as the Al–Amal, or ‘Hope’, Teaching Centers. Our schools are based in the villages of Al Marj, Al Faour, Bar Elias, Saadnayil, and Arsal.

To reach MAPs’s target of 3,000 students, the schools implement two shifts: grades K-3 in the morning and grades 4-6 in the afternoon. Classes, held in mobile shipping caravans, hold approximately 30 students.

The Lebanese curriculum is taught, in addition to life skills, art and sports. Innovative activities for improving health and emotional literacy are integral components of our informal curriculum. Health interventions are implemented whenever possible and psychosocial support programs are administered and evaluated by a clinical psychologist.

Our Social Impact

Children in our community are exposed to child exploitation, poverty, limited mobility, food insecurity, and discrimination. A high proportion suffer from mental health problems. Within this backdrop, 250,000 displaced children are deprived of education. Lebanon’s Ministry of Education does not have the capacity to improve its education infrastructure to accommodate Syrian needs. The Lebanese curriculum is taught in French and English, which makes the majority of Syrian refugees unqualified for acceptance. In addition, space in Lebanese public schools is limited and discrimination against Syrian students remains rampant.

This critical lack of access to formal education means that MAPs schools are the only accessible education provider. Our schools improve psychosocial development, leverage intellectual and creative potential and support dignified futures. Our quality education provision is a critical tool for reducing rates in child labor and early marriage.

MAPs implements informal education activities designed to inspire students as well as their families: our students’ achievements restore hope across the most vulnerable Syrian communities.