By Patricia Mouamar

An education project in Lebanon's Dbayeh Palestinian refugee camp has opened new horizons for children with learning difficulties and highlighted the need for access to quality education.

World Vision's 'Study Station Project' in the camp in the northern suburbs of Beirut provided children as young as eight with critical learning skills they need to stay in school.

The educational level of Palestinian children is not comparable to that of Lebanese children or even to Palestinian children living in neighbouring Arab hosting countries. One out of three Palestinian children in Lebanon, aged 10 and above, leaves school before finishing primary or intermediate. The drop-out rate is 39 per cent, which is 10-fold higher than for Lebanese students for male and female alike, according to an Amnesty International Study*.

Youssef, 8 and his brother Jamileh, 9, had difficulties pronouncing words, reading and putting letters together. The boys coped by attempting to memorise texts read to them.

'When the brothers first joined the centre, they could not even spell their own names and now they can read a whole text by themselves,' said Maguy Hamouch Choufani, a teacher at the centre. 'It would have simply been impossible for them to go on memorising large amounts of text without actually being able to read them.'

The project used a personalised approach to support each child with his or her educational and psychological needs.

Like dozens of other young children in similar circumstances, the lack of education would have condemned them to a life of poverty. Unable to read or write and lacking access to specialised assistance, the brothers would have left school in Grade 3 or 4. Yet after just a year in the programme, Youssef can now read and write.

'Let me show you how I can write my name on the whiteboard,' said Youssef. 'Here (at the centre) …I can study and have fun.'

'There are a lot of children who needed our help, but we couldn't accommodate them all,' said Elie Ghorayeb, project co-ordinator. 'Sadly, we had to turn down a lot of cases and let our specialist select the children who have the greatest need.'

About 30 children and more than 90 others, such as parents and teachers, benefited from the Study Station Project. Through the project, World Vision rehabilitated a study centre at the camp, recruited and trained teachers, raised awareness among parents about the importance of education, and empowered local partners on education issues.

World Vision has been working with Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon since 1997. The study station project has been funded by World Vision Canada. The project awaits funding.

*According to Amnesty International Study, 'Exiled and suffering: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon', 2007, which was based on the (58) Third periodic report of States parties due in 2003 (CRC): Lebanon. UN Doc. CRC/C/129/Add.7, 25 October 2005 para. 477-78,