The “Al-Mabarrat Charitable” Association celebrated the closing of the activities of the week of the global “Education for All” campaign in the hall of the UNESCO Palace, under the patronage of the Minister of Education Elias Bou Saab represented by Ghassan Chokrone, and in the presence of the UNESCO representative in Beirut Hamad Al-Hammami, the director of Al-Mabarrat Dr Sayyed Mohammad Baqir Fadlallah, the teaching staff, municipal figures and a crowd of students.
The national anthem was followed by the showing of a film about the activities and accomplishments of the past ten years and what has been achieved at the level of education for all.
Fadlallah delivered a speech in which he affirmed “the right of all to education and teaching, and Al-Mabarrat's adherence to the principles of its founder Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, who held that education penetrates the human being's mind, and that Al-Mabarrat's aim is to prepare the human being through upbringing before teaching, because upbringing determines the purpose of teaching”. He expressed his hope that “the governments have responded to UNESCO, since we are in the last year, with the deadline for the education for all campaign being 2015”. Fadlallah pointed to “Al-Mabarrat's role in educating the orphan, the poor and people with special needs, in removing the disparities among learners, and in establishing a culture of continuous training that has constituted stations for numerous experiences”.
He spoke about “the teaching of 1,275 pupils with special needs and 600 people with needs, and participation in international competitions and the winning of the second and third prizes”. He concluded by pointing out that “Al-Mabarrat's aim is God's pleasure and the building of courses of communication with everyone”.
UNESCO's speech was delivered by Hamad Al-Hammami, who held that “the celebration patronized by UNESCO is a mechanism for recalling the aims of the global initiative agreed upon in Dakar in 2000 and for reminding states to provide education for adults and children”. He pointed to “efforts in all the countries of the world to achieve a new stage from 2015 to 2030”. He noted that “there are millions of illiterate people in the Arab world, with increasing challenges because of the enormous conflicts and of dropping out”, holding that “the previous aims were not completed”. The students presented the anthem “By knowledge mankind benefits”. The mother of one of the students, Mirvat Barakat, also gave testimony about the association's role.
Chokrone delivered a speech in which he praised “the pioneering role played by Al-Mabarrat at the educational and social level and in the process of including people with special needs in Lebanese society - a matter we are not accustomed to”.
He affirmed that “the Ministry of Education now has centres in every governorate for people with special needs”, praising “UNESCO's education for all campaign, given the existence of millions of illiterate people in Arab societies, a matter that needs great means to bring dropouts back to school or to vocational and technical education and to training in trades and crafts so as to secure a dignified living”.
He also praised “the cooperation between Al-Mabarrat Association and UNESCO in reaching the shared aims”. He conveyed the minister's appreciation and his pride in these activities, recalling “the burdens Lebanon carries, which exceed the capacity of a great state, because of the large numbers of refugees and the absorption of the largest number of students”.
Finally Chokrone received a book from the association, and the participants made a tour of the exhibition of artistic activities carried out by the students.
