Bassil at the Education Sector Dinner: To educate students on national ideology and the concepts of sovereignty and independence

During a dinner for the education sector in Batroun, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Gebran Bassil delivered a speech in which he said, "Lebanon is a message-bearing country distinguished by science and culture, which we have acquired over the years, and we live in a large community characterized by diversity and distinction, giving it a human dimension that has made Lebanese people successful all over the world."
He emphasized, “Therefore, education is essential in the country, as reform in Lebanon cannot be achieved without educational reform and development in science and culture, and this is the great challenge facing the state with a collapsing education sector.”
Bassil added: “Because we in the Movement recognize the importance of education, we established the Higher Council for Education, whose primary concern is updating curricula to keep pace with developments, especially in the field of artificial intelligence.”
He said: “My main concern is identity, and identity is culture, and the biggest challenge is to preserve it.” He believes the greatest danger comes from outside, specifically in the case of Syrian refugees, not because of racism or sectarianism, but because it affects our culture.
He continued: “The number of Syrian students in Batroun schools has decreased by less than a thousand, but in the end, no matter how much it decreases, the number of Syrian students remains greater than that of Lebanese students in our schools, and we cannot consider this insignificant.”
Bassil emphasized: “I was against granting a series of ranks and salaries in the past and warned that it would cause the country’s economic collapse because our economy could not withstand it; however, today I support the demands for salary increases for the public sector because you cannot continue to live like this.” He stressed that the material and moral dignity of teachers must be preserved through the appreciation of people.
He stressed that love for the homeland must be taught to preserve culture and that this does not contradict development, “i.e., we can keep up with technology and remain rooted in our authenticity, traditions, and homeland.”
He said: “It is your duty to encourage students to understand the meaning of the homeland and the importance of attachment to it, because this is a fundamental problem we are experiencing, as young people cannot be lost in terms of the meaning of the homeland and how to preserve it, because there are politicians and political forces playing the game of dividing or annexing the homeland.”
He emphasized that “regardless of whether we are convinced of our homeland or not, once we lose it, along with its territory and borders, we do not know what will remain for us. We cannot, with such concepts, allow young people to think that these are citizens whom one cannot live with. We must teach young people what sovereignty, independence, and freedom of the homeland mean. We are a generation raised on these concepts, and the homeland was for us a source of dignity and love; as President Michel Aoun expressed in the phrase ‘because you are our dignity.’”
Bassil concluded: In the absence of a clear national policy, students must be educated on a healthy national ideology, at least belonging to the homeland.