A reception meeting for Syrian students took place on 23 October 2018 at the USJ Rectorate in the presence of Salim Daccache, s.j., Rector of USJ, Prof. Carla Edde, Vice-Rector of International Relations, Mrs. Gina Abi Fadel Saad, Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Translation, Mrs. Shiraz Akl, Director of Social Services, and Mrs. Carmel Wakim, Secretary General of the USJ Foundation.

Students will attend French language classes at ETIB every Tuesday and Thursday of their first semester, so that they can then integrate academic programs as of the 2nd semester (for undergraduates).

About the project to integrate displaced Syrian students at USJ

Since 2011, USJ has increased its activities related to displaced Syrians in Lebanon, and so in the form of benefits, notably medical benefits that are provided in camps, as well as research regarding their living conditions. Now, USJ has decided to launch an education project, aiming to enroll in its faculties and institutes young, talented, and displaced Syrians who lack the financial means needed for a university education. USJ thus intends to contribute to the emergence - among the ranks of Syrians in exile in Lebanon - of a new generation of actors of change who can play leading roles in their local communities and in Syrian society in general. The project will be developed with NGOs already in partnership with USJ who are recognized for their commitment to helping displaced Syrians, as well as with international bodies.

During the first year of the project, the objective is to help at least twenty candidates. USJ offers them the possibility to enroll in the first cycle of one of its three-year vocational programs, and so in the different disciplinary fields not subject to specific regulations for non-Lebanese. Their integration will be accompanied by personalized career guidance services through USJ’s Department of Information and Orientation. This integration also entails intensive French teaching, using an approach of classroom sessions provided by the Faculty of Languages and Translation in tandem with university student volunteer sessions. The USJ Department of Student Life sets this dynamic up, which also allows the Syrian students to become friends with and socialize with their respective tutors.

The project intends to take into account the duration of the entire program, providing a full scholarship to these students for a 3-year period, at the end of which they get their diploma. USJ has committed to grant full exemptions from registration fees, and the USJ Foundation is searching for funding sources among NGOs and donors. USJ Social Services will set up specific follow-up mechanisms, connecting the heads of the relevant academic structures with the representatives of the partner NGOs.

Profile of beneficiaries: the beneficiaries are the sponsored students:

Young Syrians of both sexes, aged 18 to 23

Displaced in Lebanon and holding the legal documents required by the Lebanese State

Having the qualifications required to enroll at university: Lebanese baccalaureate or equivalent diploma according to the standards of the Lebanese Equivalency Commission.