PRESS RELEASES 2007

U.S. Embassy Presents English Language Teaching Resources to the Lebanese Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD)

March 29, 2007

U.S. Cultural Attaché Ryan Gliha presented the Lebanese Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD) and its President, Dr. Leila Maliha Fayyad, a collection of English teaching reference materials for the Ministry of Education's 25 teaching training centers located throughout Lebanon.  The ceremony was held at the Center for Educational Research and Development in Dekwaneh on Thursday, March 29 at 10:30 a.m.

The collections of English teaching materials focus will provide CERD's trainers with resources and techniques to assist them with the professional development of Lebanon's public school English teachers.  The U.S. Embassy delivered similar sets of materials to the Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association and IRFAN Schools for use in their networks of schools.  These donations are part of the U.S. Embassy's continuing efforts to support English-language education in Lebanon.  In addition to providing English teaching resources, the Embassy sponsors workshops by American experts in teaching English as a foreign language, long-term residencies of English Language Fellows at educational institutions, and scholarships for public-school students to study English through the ACCESS scholarship program.

In his remarks, Gliha noted the Embassy's ongoing commitment to English-language education in Lebanon and CERD: "We are dedicated to support the Lebanese Government's efforts to improve and expand its English-teaching programs by providing U.S. expertise.  The English language is increasingly important in Lebanon as a language of business and commerce; a fact that is borne out by increasing demands by Lebanese students and parents for English education.  The Embassy will continue to support Lebanon's youth in their desire to learn and master the English language."