Because the economic situation in Lebanon has greatly deteriorated during the last years, more and more families find themselves unable to sustain their basic needs. When children are involved, parents face a dramatic dilemma: Food or Schooling?
Parents that find themselves in this situation are no longer sending their children to school once they become 13 or 14 years of age. Instead, parents send these unfortunate children to work as cheap laborers, auto mechanics, or in beauty saloons.
According to "AL NAHAR", a leading Lebanese newspaper, 13% of the population in Lebanon is illiterate. This means that in this small country of approximately 4 million there are at least half a million illiterates and/or very poorly educated people. Only 30% of the children in Lebanon attend school regularly, and 62.5% of Lebanese families declare that they are unable to pay their children's tuition while simultaneously meeting their daily needs.