XXVII Annual Colloquium of Catholic Schools – Catholic Schools in Lebanon: “Let us make new possibilities emerge”

The XXVII Annual Colloquium of Catholic Schools – Catholic Schools in Lebanon: “Let us make new possibilities emerge” took place from the 15th to the 16th of September. OMAEC was well represented by our Assistant Treasurer and UNESCO Delegate, Laurent Grégoire, who gave an interesting talk: “Alumni of Catholic schools; a new strategy to help schools survive”, which we are sure will contribute to revive the Lebanese Alumni Federation.

In the space of a few months, the face of Lebanon has changed, the collapse of institutions is so brutal that we lack visibility for the future. Crisis after crisis, the components of our country and our society have undoubtedly been shaken. All vital areas have been struck by the multiplicity of crises: health, economic, environmental, etc. Education, considered as the most powerful weapon to change a nation, is currently in danger. Neither restoration nor reasonable accommodation of our educational system seems sufficient. A fundamental re-reading, based on the courage to be and on hope, is necessary today.

At the stage we are at now, we are called upon to mourn the loss of an inherited system and to work towards the emergence of “new possibilities”. During the year 2020-2021, everywhere in our institutions, challenges have been taken up, innovative experiences have flourished, trying to restore confidence, to support the different actors in order to ensure the continuity of the Church’s mission in the Lebanese educational landscape. The responses are expected to be commensurate with the events experienced and the trials undergone. It is almost certain that our school and educational system of the “post-crisis” will be “Other”.