Kiron Lebanon

Partner with us in Lebanon!

Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees in the world per capita, with an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees and almost one million Palestinian refugees residing in a country of just four million inhabitants. While many refugees are young people at school and university age, they are struggling to continue their education in displacement. The influx of refugees has increased social and economic tensions and has over-stretched an already strained Lebanese public service system. Creative solutions are needed. The right to quality education does not stop because of conflict, displacement, and instability, and is the most powerful means of breaking cycles of vulnerability and poverty.

Kiron started operations in Lebanon in late 2017, supporting refugees and underserved Lebanese communities in the country.

Kiron proposes a blended learning approach in Lebanon, combining online courses (MOOCs) from renowned Higher Education Institutions on our platform with offline learning in study centers, together with a strong blended student support. Kiron offers long curricula equivalent to Bachelor studies at a local university, as well as preparatory courses in English language and soft skills (among which digital skills and life skills). The goal is to equip the students with crucial and certifiable skills in the 21st century in order to open paths towards higher education, empower them to reach their academic, personal or professional learning goals while fostering a strong, inclusive community.

The three main pillars of our approach

Transfer and online credits recognition in universities
Kiron adapts the online curriculum tracks offered to the Lebanese university model, thus providing the opportunity for the students to study credits for free on the Kiron Campus, for 6 months to up to 24 months, and then get their online credits recognized when they apply and transfer to a local partner university. The students will then be able to save tuition fees by transferring the courses they have already studied online, pursue their studies offline and graduate from a bachelor’s degree from that university.

A strong Blended learning & support system
Kiron offers tailored online and in-person guidance to students depending on the goals that they want to achieve, whether they want to go to university or envisage other pathways. Students have access to our online forum, help center, mentoring services, and others, as well as in-person office hours and welcome sessions.
As online learning is very new in the region and in Lebanon, and in order to meet our students’ local needs, Kiron proposes a blended education initiative, consisting of a digital learning certificate program and peer-to-peer support components. Students are organized in groups and offered access to study centers in different regions of Lebanon. Students can thus have access to an appropriate study environment, with computers, an internet connection and pursue their online studies with a tutor present to guide them through the course, and give complementary offline academic support.
At the end of a study course or module, the students receive a certificate of completion.

A Policy Advocacy agenda on online learning
To ensure sustainable prospects for our students and beyond, Kiron also holds a policy advocacy agenda in Lebanon. We work with multiple stakeholders, students, faculty members, other NGOs and ministerial bodies including the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, in order to advance the culture and the recognition of online learning on a macro-level in the country.