Lebanon’s Minister of Education, Tarek Majzoub, continued to insist, under pressure, that he will not back down from his recommendation to end the school year exams and allow all students to automatically pass to the coming year.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab issued his decision against Majzoub’s recommendation, asking for schools and universities to perform tests for students and grade them accordingly.
Students who have been required to learn remotely through online or televised lessons complained that they are not receiving the same learning experience. That topped off with stress and anxiety that comes with the pandemic and isolation having an effect on students.
As one student put it:
“I really didn’t understand any lesson during all of these online classes because I’m not a nerd. I can’t just wake up every day at 9 am and study till 3 pm, especially that the internet quality is miserable, and people are dying hence I have no passion to study.”
Most of these students believe it is unjust to be forced to do exams that they are not ready for. In addition, they don’t appreciate putting their lives at risk in the face of the coronavirus.
Appealing to Majzoub, students began tweeting and flooded the social media platform with the hashtag #طارق_احكم_بالعدل (Tarek, be just).
We all need to be side by side right now to get through this rough moment,please,its not our fault , non of us brought the CoronaVirus out here , we are students and we deserve the best of the best and we deserve to have good education and no stress #طارق_احكم_بالعدل #رح_منوت
— دَ (@Dado55463656) May 21, 2020
#طارق_احكم_بالعدل
— Habib Rammal (@rammal_habib) May 21, 2020
Keep going guys ???? pic.twitter.com/uZ2beddiTM
The hashtag went viral in Lebanon, topping the trending list at #1, with over 41,000 tweets as of the time of writing.
We’re your kids #طارق_احكم_بالعدل
— mirafkleib (@mirafkleib) May 21, 2020
That night, Majzoub had an interview on TV in which he stressed, again, that he will not back down, showing that he is thinking in the best interest of the students and their families.
?Help us to stay safe #طارق_احكم_بالعدل
— Malak (@malak_mabrouk_) May 21, 2020
Let us trust you! #طارق_احكم_بالعدل
— Carolina (@CarolinaKozah) May 21, 2020
We are the future! Don't let us down! #طارق_احكم_بالعدل
— Ghinwa???? (@Ghxnwa19) May 21, 2020
In response to the viral hashtag, Minister Majzoub tweeted: “Students of Lebanon! Your desire for justice is the key to education.”
School students directly affected by this were overjoyed hearing his interview and reading his post.
“Your Excellency, today I really assured the whole world that you are one of us and your heart is upon us, thank you,” said Jawal Jalloul on Twitter.
As of the time of writing, the tweets from the students appealing to the Minister for a final fair decision continue.
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