Lebanon’s new curriculum: The end of the 1997 classroom

The Cabinet's landmark decision ends nearly three decades of educational paralysis, but experts say approving a new curriculum is only the first step toward transforming Lebanon's classrooms.

For the first time since 1997, Lebanon has approved a new national curriculum for pre-university education, bringing to an end nearly three decades of stalled reform efforts.

Meeting at Baabda Palace on Wednesday, the Council of Ministers approved a new pre-university curriculum and a draft decree formalizing its adoption. The decision marks Lebanon's first comprehensive curriculum overhaul in 29 years and follows decades of reform proposals that repeatedly fell victim to political deadlock, funding shortages, and successive national crises.

A curriculum frozen in time

The curriculum introduced in 1997 was itself a product of Lebanon's post-war reconstruction. Drafted in the long shadow of the Taif Agreement, it sought to promote national reconciliation but also reflected the political compromises of the time. Contested chapters of Lebanese history were largely avoided, civic identity remained deliberately broad, and rote memorization became the dominant model of learning. Over time, those choices hardened into institutional permanence.

Attempts to reform the curriculum followed in 2002, 2010, and again in 2019, but each ultimately stalled under the weight of sectarian disagreements, funding shortages, or successive political and economic crises. The Centre for Educational Research and Development (CERD), the government body responsible for curriculum development, repeatedly produced reform frameworks that were revised, postponed, and ultimately shelved.

The 2019 process came closest to implementation before Lebanon's financial collapse overwhelmed state institutions and pushed educational reform to the sidelines.

Lebanon has long known what needs to change. The question has never been the curriculum itself. It has been the political will to implement it, and the resources to make it real.

From memorization to competencies

The newly approved framework represents a fundamental shift in how Lebanese students are expected to learn.

Rather than relying primarily on memorization and standardized recall, it adopts competency-based learning, an internationally recognized approach that emphasizes applying knowledge, solving problems, thinking critically, collaborating with others, and developing skills that extend beyond the classroom.

The reform places greater emphasis on critical thinking, creativity, analytical reasoning, and problem-solving while integrating digital literacy across subjects and redesigning civic education around practical life skills. Assessment methods are also expected to evolve, moving away from an education system dominated by high-stakes examinations toward more continuous evaluation through projects, portfolios, and performance-based assessment.

According to Dr. Hiam Ishaq, president of the Centre for Educational Research and Development, the objective is no longer to teach students everything they may need throughout their lives.

"It is no longer possible to teach students everything they will need throughout their lives," Ishaq told The Beiruter. "Instead, we equip learners with competencies and transferable skills that enable them to continue learning, adapt independently, and develop themselves throughout life."

The framework develops competencies ranging from critical thinking, creativity, ethical responsibility, and self-management to emerging fields such as computational thinking, design thinking, robotics, and crafting. It also promotes authentic learning experiences that encourage students to apply knowledge to real-life situations rather than simply recalling information during examinations.

The reform also requires a fundamental change in the role of teachers. Rather than serving primarily as lecturers, educators are expected to become facilitators who guide learning, design authentic performance tasks, and assess students through real-world applications.

"The teacher is no longer the center of the learning process," Ishaq said. "The student is."

The challenge begins now

Cabinet approval is a major milestone, but it does not guarantee that the reform will reach every classroom.

Lebanon's education system is highly fragmented. Private schools educate an estimated 65 to 70 percent of students and are not legally required to adopt every aspect of the national curriculum. Religious schools operate under separate educational frameworks, while UNRWA schools serving Palestinian refugee populations fall under a different authority.

The Ministry of Education plans to introduce the curriculum gradually, beginning with the early grades. According to Ishaq, the coming academic year will serve as a preparatory and pilot phase focused primarily on intensive teacher training before the curriculum is progressively expanded through a phased implementation plan.

One of the most politically sensitive issues also remains unresolved: Lebanese history.

Attempts to produce a unified national history curriculum have collapsed in every reform cycle since the 1990s, foundering on the inability of Lebanon's political parties to agree on a shared account of the Civil War. As a result, generations of Lebanese students have completed their education without studying a common national narrative of one of the country's defining periods.

Sources familiar with the Cabinet's deliberations say history education was among the issues deliberately left unresolved during negotiations. Whether the newly approved curriculum eventually addresses that longstanding impasse, or simply postpones it once again, remains unclear.

Implementation will also require significant financial investment. Modern subjects such as robotics, computer science, physical education, and the arts require laboratories, equipment, updated teaching materials, and specialized training, resources that many public schools continue to lack.

A reform that will be measured in classrooms

For Lebanese families, the stakes are not abstract. More than 1.2 million students are enrolled in pre-university education in Lebanon, a country whose human capital has long been its most credible export. The brain drain accelerated by the 2019 economic collapse has stripped public institutions of experienced educators and administrators. Many of the teachers expected to deliver a reformed curriculum have not themselves been trained under any competency-based model.

International organizations including UNESCO and UNICEF have repeatedly flagged the inadequacy of Lebanon's public education infrastructure as a structural barrier to reform. Both have active programs in Lebanon focused on learning recovery following the displacement and school closures caused by successive conflicts. Whether the Cabinet's curriculum decree coordinates with or runs parallel to these programs has not been clarified.

June 25, 2026 may be remembered as the day Lebanon finally signed its students into the twenty-first century. Whether it is remembered that way will depend entirely on what happens next.

Ishaq acknowledged that public schools will face the greatest challenges during implementation but expressed confidence that a gradual rollout and sustained teacher training can make the reform achievable.

"Our objective is to develop the whole learner, not simply to transmit knowledge," she said. "We want students who are capable of working independently, collaborating effectively, adapting to change, and continuing to learn throughout their lives."

The question is no longer whether Lebanon will reform its curriculum. It is whether the state can translate an ambitious framework into meaningful change across the country, providing every school, from Beirut to the Bekaa, Akkar, and beyond, with the resources, teachers with the training, and students with the education the reform promises.