WYAME at the Arab Centre for Social Studies (ACSS)

WYAME was requested to participate in a workshop organized by the Arab Center for Social Studies to discuss the different methods encouraging secondary school students to choose social sciences at universities and as a career. The workshop was for two consecutive days, on the 30th and 31st of October at Geffinor Rotana, Hamra.

The ACSS focuses on Social Studies, helps students to find jobs and provides scholarships for research. This pilot phase is in four Arab countries, Lebanon, Oman, Egypt and Morocco.

This workshop was held in partnership with the regional office of UNESCO in Beirut.

The work was divided into three parts:

1. Management Of Social Transformation – MOST: Social Studies research, government mechanism with regular consultations, policies development, capacity empowerment
2. SDGs: 17 goals: poverty, famine, health, education, wash, power, economic development, infrastructure…
3. Youth strategies: youth policies, empowering youth, civil participation.
   Sharing experiences between four countries was based on two common links: Social Studies and political system, Social Studies and job market.

The opportunities existing in Lebanon are:

• Interactive education to know the diversity of specialization and to discover the different types of specializations.
• Networking: private and public schools, CSOs, universities (research centers), public figures, parents, scouts, INGOs, ACSS, media.

Action plan for one year was drafted: In Lebanon there will be a movie competition for secondary school students, filming their environment from a social perspective. A Lebanese action group was made from the Lebanese participants (MEHE representative and education experts from private universities and schools).

This was an opportunity for WYAME to initiate a network with the active secondary schools in Lebanon.