Lebanon’s schools prepare to reopen while classrooms still shelter displaced families

One building, two urgent needs

Lebanon is preparing to begin its public-school year on September 15 while some school buildings continue to house families displaced by the war with Israel. In Froun and other southern communities, administrators are attempting to restore classes without removing residents who have nowhere safe to return. The problem turns a routine reopening into a test of whether the state and aid agencies can protect both the right to education and the immediate need for dignified shelter.

Al Jazeera’s reporting from southern Lebanon found schools serving simultaneously as learning spaces and collective accommodation. Froun’s public school planned to receive students while continuing to support displaced residents, with prefabricated housing proposed as a way to separate the two functions. Lebanon’s education minister has said students should have access to school and that displaced people should not be removed without an alternative.

Damage keeps displacement from ending

The obstacle is not simply administrative. Homes, water networks, electricity systems and schools remain damaged across parts of southern Lebanon, while renewed insecurity has discouraged or reversed some returns. UNHCR documented in May that unexploded ordnance, destroyed housing and disrupted services were keeping families in converted classrooms even after a period of reduced fighting. Its reporting described schools as overcrowded spaces never designed for long-term residence.

The educational system was under pressure before the latest reopening deadline. Lebanon’s 2026 response plan identifies safe and functional learning spaces as a priority and warns that conflict, displacement and economic hardship have already reduced enrolment and disrupted attendance. A July UNHCR education-sector report further documented the need for repairs, equipment and flexible learning arrangements in crisis-affected areas.

Children bear several overlapping costs. A school that remains a shelter can lose classrooms, sanitation capacity and teaching time. Moving families out without secure accommodation, however, can expose them to unsafe buildings, unexploded weapons or renewed displacement. Repeated interruptions also increase the risk that poorer students leave education permanently, especially where transport, school materials and household income are already strained.

What to watch before September 15

The immediate indicators will be whether alternative shelters or prefabricated homes are delivered, how many damaged schools can open safely and whether utilities are restored in returning communities. Authorities must also decide where temporary classrooms and remote learning are viable. The broader political test is whether Lebanon’s ceasefire and reconstruction arrangements can create conditions for durable return. Until homes and basic services are restored, schools will remain part of the shelter system as well as the education system.