Middle East– The UNESCO Regional Office in Beirut has warned of an unprecedented escalation in the education crisis across the Arab region, amid ongoing security escalation and deepening conflicts throughout 2026, which have led to a significant deterioration in education systems across multiple countries.

According to the report, more than 100 million children across the region are directly or indirectly affected by conflict and instability, while around 52 million children were already experiencing disrupted or interrupted education prior to the latest escalation.

The report noted that schools in several countries are being damaged or repurposed as shelters, while a large share of education delivery has shifted to emergency or remote learning modalities, often with significant disparities in quality and access.

In Lebanon, the report stated that 1,156 public schools have been converted into shelter centers, in addition to hundreds of other educational institutions that have been directly affected, resulting in the disruption of education for hundreds of thousands of students. It also noted that more than 241,000 students are affected either due to school closures or because schools are located in conflict-affected areas.

In the Gaza Strip, the situation was described as a “near-total collapse of the education system,” with most schools damaged or destroyed, leaving hundreds of thousands of students out of education amid urgent needs for psychosocial and learning support.

In Iraq, while schools remain open, remote learning has been adopted in several areas. In Gulf countries, precautionary measures have led to temporary transitions to online education or the suspension of certain educational activities.

The report warned of growing risks, including widening learning gaps, increasing dropout rates, worsening mental health challenges among students and teachers, and reduced pathways to the labor market, particularly in vocational education and training.

UNESCO stressed that without urgent intervention, the crisis could lead to long-term losses in human capital across the region, calling for sustained funding and coordinated international response to ensure the continuity of education in emergencies.

The organization emphasized that education is no longer merely a sector affected by crises, but has become a “central pillar in humanitarian response, stability, and recovery".