Arab Educational Information Network

Lebanon is very well known for its famous and good standard educational system. The right to education is preserved in the Lebanese constitutions. Moreover, Lebanon in accordance with the policy of ‘Education for All’ and with the help of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) has laid the foundations for the reorganizations within the education sector, providing quality, equal opportunities and contributing to social integration and economic development. This education helps shape the culture of the Lebanese citizen and offers him/her higher order thinking skills to live and work in a changing society and be proficient in learning through his entire life. Moreover, bilingualism and multilingualism have been placed high on the agendas of many private and public schools in Lebanon as they find the need for their students to be competitive in the global career arena. The meshing together of the three languages- English, Arabic and French- in the same sentence takes place many times in Lebanese Arabic. Most importantly, English is increasingly gaining prestige within what had been thought to be a francophone environment. The Ministry of Education's policies concerning teaching languages and various reports on the subject propose a modification from Arabic/French bilingualism to Arabic/French/English trilingualism in private and public schools. This paper aims to provide a profile of both: the Lebanese educational system and the English language in Lebanon. (Published abstract)