Time is running out for Syrian refugee kids out of school

“We can’t afford to put them in school here. All my children were studying in Syria, but if I put them in school here, how would I live?” “Muna”, 45, and her family live across the street from a school in Mount Lebanon, but her children, “Yousef”, 11, and “Nizar”, 10, have never set foot in a Lebanese classroom. Instead, they sell gum on the street to help their family pay for rent and food. “Even if everything was free, the children wouldn’t be able to go to school,” she said. “They are the only ones who can work.”    Lebanon has taken in more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011. Of this number, 500,000 are of school age, three to 18. Despite the Education Ministry’s efforts to ensure that all children enroll in education, more than 250,000 Syrian children are still