School Dropouts Tarnish Tripoli's Image

At 10.30am, Walid Al-Saman, 15, is enjoying a few moments of rest during his 11-hour day. In a little while, he will be resuming his work at a mechanic’s workshop located in the busy neighbourhood of Bab Al-Ramel in Tripoli.

Walid has been working as an assistant mechanic for four years, ever since he was expelled from school because of repeated absences.

“They were wicked; they used to beat me up and lock me out,” said Walid, recalling his treatment at the hands of his former teachers. But conditions at school were not the only reasons behind Walid’s decision to leave education.

He had to help support his family, especially after his parents divorced, leaving his mother and six siblings without a fixed income.

Today, he works almost 11 hours a day, except on Sundays, for the petty salary of 20 US dollars a week.

Walid is one of many children in Tripoli’s deprived neighbourhoods who leave school to join the labour force before they are 18. Observers say that the reasons behind this growing phenomenon are economic instability, the lack of means to continue education and the desire of some children to gain relative financial independence.

The rate of children dropping out of schools could be as high as 45 per cent in some areas, according to a study by the social committee of Tripoli municipality. Other independent studies claim that the numbers are even higher in certain deprived areas like Bab al-Tebbaneh.

The head of this neighbourhood, Mahmoud Al-Zohbi, said that the number of school dropouts has increased, especially in 2008 when political instability and security problems pushed many teenage children to take up weapons and join extremist groups.

Since then, although the situation has calmed down, many of these children have not returned to school and are instead repairing cars or delivering groceries.

Zakariya Al-Khodary, 14, is one of those who dropped out of school to work as a delivery boy.

“I wanted to earn a living,” he said, while dragging two bottles of gas.

Experts say that the costs of studying also lead to children dropping out of school.

Although education is both compulsory and free at state schools, paying for books, stationary and transportation are beyond the means of many families.

In the face of the growing phenomenon of school dropouts, Tripoli’s municipality has projects both to encourage children to return to school and to assist those who have already left, including vocational training to help young people get better jobs with higher pay.

But the large numbers of children affected makes it difficult for the government to create a significant change in the current situation, observers say.

According to Samira Baghdadi, the head of the municipality’s social committee, finding a solution for school dropouts will take time.

With the situation currently snowballing, many children who leave school early are at risk of falling into delinquency, she explained.

Civil society has also tried to ameliorate the negative effects of children dropping out of school. One programme gave around 610 young people training in computer skills, English language and repairing mobile phones, to help them access better job opportunities.

But a need for more effective measures has prompted the bureau of social development at Tripoli municipality to carry out an in-depth study of school dropouts.

According to the bureau’s director, Rabih Omar, understanding individual cases will help devise a better strategy to tackle the problem.

But with a comprehensive plan yet to be implemented in the city, Tripoli’s historic reputation as “the city of knowledge and of scholars” may still be at risk.