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After Criticism, Minister of Education Reverses Racist Schooling Decision
After activists and organizations condemned the terribly discriminatory schooling decision made by Tarek Majzoub, the Minister of Education in Lebanon’s caretaker government, we’re happy to report that the decision has been reversed.
Majzoub issued a decree requesting all those responsible for public and private schools, secondary schools, and institutes are to register non-Lebanese students (of Lebanese mothers but not fathers) without any discrimination.
In his statement, Majzoub said that his decision comes “based on the request made by the National Commission for Lebanese Women, and its belief that the rights of Lebanese women and their children must be respected, and based on the right to education and the need to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women”. Not sure why it took a formal request for the Minister to reach this fairly rudimentary idea of equality.
It is sad that we feel like we need to “celebrate” this decision when education is a fundamental right, not a privilege.
Outrageous decision by caretaker Education Minister Tarek Majzoub to deny the children of Lebanese women married to foreign men registration in #Lebanon’s public schools. The outdated nationality law is discriminatory and should be changed, not reinforced. https://t.co/X36ZmXOedh https://t.co/TMmefljxpH
— Aya Majzoub (@Aya_Majzoub) August 26, 2020
In #Lebanon only fathers can pass citizenship to children. So every year, kids whose moms are Lebanese but whose dads aren’t wait & hope the education minister will decide they can enroll in school. This year, he didn’t. @TarekMMajzoub https://t.co/IiWyFNvXQ2
— Kyle Knight (@knightktm) September 3, 2020
Majzoub issued a decree requesting all those responsible for public and private schools, secondary schools, and institutes are to register non-Lebanese students (of Lebanese mothers but not fathers) without any discrimination.
— National News Agency (@NNALeb) September 7, 2020
In his statement, Majzoub said that his decision comes “based on the request made by the National Commission for Lebanese Women, and its belief that the rights of Lebanese women and their children must be respected, and based on the right to education and the need to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women”. Not sure why it took a formal request for the Minister to reach this fairly rudimentary idea of equality.
It is sad that we feel like we need to “celebrate” this decision when education is a fundamental right, not a privilege.
