Lebanon’s Ambassador to Belgium, Fadi Hajj Ali, announced to the Lebanese Minister of Education Tarek El-Majzoub on Sunday that students enrolled in the universities of the Wallonia – Brussels Federation have been exempted from the registration fees for the academic year 2020-2021.
The telegram by which the announcement was made also contained a letter issued by the Board of Deans of the Federation’s Universities that confirmed the good news.
They said that several universities and higher educational institutions have approved to exempt Lebanese students from the academic registration fee, which amounts to 4,175 euros (about $4,864) for each student annually.
Instead, Lebanese students will now pay the same fee as Belgian students, which is 835 euros ($972.77) a year, thus saving each student 3,340 euros (about $3,891).
The Ambassador also assured that negotiations are being conducted with other universities, such as the English-teaching ones, with the aim of reaching a similar agreement.
During this critical phase Lebanon is going through, it is imperative that its students abroad be able to continue their education and graduate, for their sake and the sake of Lebanon’s future.
However, the Lebanese youth studying abroad have been struggling for months to meet their education costs due to the economic crisis in Lebanon and the restricted access of their parents to their funds in the banks.
Initiatives are rising in the diaspora to help them out. Most notably is the recent bursary launched at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, to support over 90 students who are cut off from the financial support of their parents in Lebanon.
