‘The Goal Is Simple--to Teach Everyone Willing to Learn’ : In Lebanon, One Man Pays the Tuition for Thousands

Smiling nervously, 83 Paris-bound youngsters invade Beirut airport. White lapel badges identify them as being among about 12,000 Lebanese pursuing their higher education at one man’s expense.

“It’s the first time I have left Lebanon,” said Shaza, 17, an engineering student. “I’m a little afraid, but very excited.”

Their benefactor is Rafiq Hariri, a Lebanese-born Saudi Arabian businessman in his 40s who spent millions of dollars to repair war damage in Lebanon after Israel’s June, 1982, invasion.

His Hariri Foundation finances and organizes college studies abroad for a generation of graduates who can hope for little help from the war-battered state.

Education Slipping

Lebanon’s high teaching standards have slipped in a decade of civil war. Until peace is restored, Hariri prefers to fund education rather than vulnerable reconstruction projects.

“The goal is simple--to teach everyone willing to learn,” says foundation director Fadl Chalak. “But we do discriminate heavily for poorer candidates.”

The two-year-old charity spent $40 million to $50 million last year and plans to spend $80 million in 1986 on tuition fees, pocket money, air fares and administrative costs.

Education Minister Selim Hoss acknowledged the “noble work” of the foundation. “We can only praise the efforts of this institution . . . and wish it continued progress and success,” he said.

Hospital Complex Built

Hariri has built a big teaching hospital complex near his home town of Sidon in southern Lebanon, now paralyzed by battles between pro-and anti-Israeli militias, and is setting up private schools in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon.

The Hariri program has grown fast, from no more than 300 students in June, 1984, to 12,000 today. Another 4,000 are expected to join every year.

“The scale is huge. We are an overworked, proud and happy bunch of people,” Chalak declared.

He said students without proficiency in foreign languages often applied for university placement abroad. “So we devised a program to enable 75% to take intensive language courses before they go on to university.”

‘Motivated, Polite, Charming’

Diana Seavill, a New Zealander teaching for Hariri at the American University of Beirut, said she doubted if all her pupils were university caliber, but added: “They are the best I’ve ever taught--motivated, polite and charming.”

The foundation advises students which courses to choose on the basis of a yearlong study it has produced on market needs.

“Parents push their kids to be engineers or doctors, but Lebanon already has 3,000 out-of-work engineers,” Chalak said.

“So we direct them to the humanities, theoretical sciences, managerial skills and applied technology.”

Rejects Eastern Bloc

Chalak’s outlook is unashamedly pro-Western. Asked why no students are sent to Eastern Bloc countries, he replied:

“Because we don’t like them. Many Lebanese have studied there and the results are really not very good.”

The foundation, with a staff of almost 150 in Beirut, Paris, London and Washington, plans to add a computerized manpower research center, a career guidance center, an employment agency and a student magazine to its existing activities.

To be accepted, students must promise to return to Lebanon after graduating, avoid marrying while abroad and eventually repay their loans--though terms have not yet been set.

“We will make repayment easy. We allow for the problem of U.S.-educated students who at current exchange rates and salary levels would need more than a lifetime to repay,” Chalak said.

For many families, Hariri is a heaven-sent benefactor. “God sent Hariri to lighten the pains of war and help our children get a better education than we could afford,” said Abdel-Rahman Usta, 60, whose sons are Hariri scholars in London and Paris.