A statement was issued by the media office of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education regarding the grouping of schools and secondary schools, which stated: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education is continuing to work with local authorities, representatives, and activists in villages and towns on the issue of consolidating schools and high schools that have small numbers of students or whose rents cannot be paid by the Ministry after the approval of the new rent law. The combined efforts of the aforementioned parties, which was called for by the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Rima Karami, has led to finding solutions for a number of schools and high schools, and work is underway on a number of others, in terms of settling the issue of rents with the landlords, or securing additional numbers of students. In Hadath, and based on a review of the town’s activities and MP Alan Aoun, it was decided to transfer the official Hadath middle and primary schools, and Hadath High School, to Baabda Mixed School, with the reduction of struggling classes and the redistribution of teachers. In Matn, after reviews by activists, local authorities, and MPs, especially MPs Sami Gemayel and Ibrahim Kanaan, the decision to transfer the students of Al-Akhtal Al-Saghir High School to a new Al-Matn high school building was amended, while maintaining the integration of the two secondary schools. The students of Jadidah Al-Matn High School and its educational and administrative staff were transferred to the Al-Akhtal Al-Saghir High School building, and the name Al-Akhtal Al-Saghir was retained for the two secondary schools. Because of its educational and social symbolism and the value and status its history represents for them. The municipality expressed its readiness, after inspecting the Al-Akhtal Al-Saghir High School building, to contribute to completing the maintenance work that it began the previous year. In cooperation with the region’s representatives, it also expressed its willingness to help address the rent issue through negotiation with the building owner. The Ministry points out that the two high school buildings are rented, and are only hundreds of meters apart, which makes the merging process possible within a close geographic scope, taking into account the specificity of the area and the demands of its people. As for the Don Bosco School in the Jbeil district, it was closed due to the new high cost of rent, but the efforts of the region’s representatives, especially Simon Abi Ramia and Ziad Hawat, and its activities, the municipality, and the people, resulted in the Ministry of Education being exempted from paying rent for this year, and a pledge to increase the grace period. The Ministry of Education and Higher Education, while appreciating the response of representatives, activists, and people in villages and towns to its call for solidarity for the sake of the renaissance of the public school, reaffirms that its doors are open to any suggestions or solutions that are in the interest of preserving our public school.