School Dropout and Human Dignity
The Monthly New Webinar Organized by MECC
Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs: School dropouts signify a society that has lost its ambition, sacrificing its aspirations at the altar of deprivation and hardship
You can find some photos below the text.
As part of its monthly seminars, the Middle East Council of Churches held a new webinar entitled “School Dropout and Human Dignity”, on Thursday 28 September 2023, with the participation of specialists, academicians, universities’ students and interested attendees in the topic at hand. Noting that this webinar comes within the framework of the “Human Dignity Project” - “Dialogue and Social Cohesion-Social Capital Rehabilitation”, which MECC is implementing consecutively.
The webinar, which was broadcasted live on the MECC Facebook Page, included four interventions, moderated by Dr. Laure Abi Khalil, who presented in her opening speech definitions about the phenomenon of school dropout, in addition to its causes and repercussions, as well as the problems to which the dropout is exposed.
The webinar began with a speech delivered by the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, in which he spoke about the problems that lead to school dropout and the consequences of this phenomenon, and said “The existence of school dropouts, in such large numbers, is indicative of a society that is unwell, teetering on the brink of an abyss, and hurtling towards it at an alarming rate. School dropouts signify a society that has lost its ambition, sacrificing its aspirations at the altar of deprivation and hardship… The school may be out of touch with educational progress and may not know how to address or deal with the student body.”
Dr. Michel Abs added that school dropout is “a project of waste - wasting time, energy, money, and productivity. It is a means of societal destruction in the long run, resulting in countless social, economic, and other problems. The least of these are the deviations among juveniles and the production of an unqualified and unemployed generation, mired in economic and social marginality.”
Afterwards, the first intervention started under the title “Challenges of the Internal Environment and their Repercussions on Education in Iraq after 2003,” with Dr. Muhammad Yas Khudair, Head of the Political Science Department at the Alamein Higher Institute for Graduate Studies. He described the phenomenon of school dropout as a catastrophic social problem which negative results will reap after many years. He also shed light on the internal environment in Iraq, socially and economically, speaking about the problem of school dropout amid the situation in the country.
The second intervention was entitled “Problems of School Dropout in Palestine,” with Dr. Rifaat Sabah, General Director of the Teacher Creativity Center, and President of the Global Campaign for Education. He talked in detail about the problems surrounding the phenomenon of school dropout in Palestine, in addition to the challenges facing this issue. He also presented a reading through numbers statistics on this phenomenon in Palestine.
The third intervention revolved around “Education and Human Dignity: A Sociological Approach to the Phenomenon of School Dropout,” with Dr. Howaida Saliby, Professor and Researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University. She mentioned that the issue of human dignity and education is a crucial issue for building a better future for humanity. She also presented the context of the recent crises in Lebanon and their effects on Lebanese society. In addition, she highlighted the reality of education in Lebanon, speaking about how school dropout can affect human dignity.
The fourth intervention was entitled “School Dropout in Syria Amidst Wars and Disasters,” with Dr. Raghida Mahmoud, Education Researcher. She wasn’t able to participate due to technical problems but her intervention was read by Dr. Chawki Attieh. In her address, Dr. Raghida Mahmoud highlighted the participation of the Syrian Arab Republic’s in the Transforming Education Summit held in New York, in addition to presenting examples of Syrian schools and the challenges they face as a result of the Syrian war and the various crises that cast their shadow over the country, presenting her personal experience as a teacher.
The webinar ended with a session for questions and discussion between the participants during which they exchanged opinions and experiences, each on according to his and her specialization and field of work. Then, the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches delivered a last word in which he presented a summary about the webinar’s topic, and mentioned his sociological point of view about the phenomenon of school dropout.
