Since 1862

first founded in 1881. 
Classes of N.E.I.G.B. are from Nursery to 3^rd Secondary. Bedsides regular classes, the school offers special programs in:

National Evangelical Institute for Girls and Boys is the present name of a combination of two old and historical famous institutions: Sidon girls' School and Gerard Institute. The first has a distinct and pioneering role in the education of women in the Near East. It was founded by the missionaries Rev. William King and Dr. George Ford on the 1st.Dec.1862. This was the first girls' school in Saida, and the first year's enrollment was seven girls.

The school started in a single house in old Saida, and then moved into a better nearby .In 1924 the school moved to a new location in Ain El-Hilweh near Saida, where it still exists. There were independent buildings for administration, classrooms, modern kitchen, sewing room, library, pre-elementary section, laboratories, and dining room.

The boarders lived in a system of cottages, where each cottage housed a group of students under the patronage of the "cottage mother". This system offered a family environment where the girls enjoyed the mothers care and guidance.

The school was famous for its "Home Economics" curriculum where the students had courses in cooking (in specially equipped kitchen laboratory), dining room arrangement, sewing, child caring and other related courses. Besides these courses, the school followed the Official Lebanese Curriculum as set by the Ministry of Education in all its levels. The school also prepares its students for the Lebanese Official Certificates and universities English Entrance Exams, Scientific and Qualitative Exams and Aptitude Tests.
In the early days of the school, the language of instruction was Arabic. Then it became English, and French was and still taught as a second language.
Parallel to Sidon Girls' School, a school for boys was founded by the early missionaries in 1880 in a rented house. When the missionaries faced some difficulties in expanding the school to include a boarding department, one of the two native teachers, Yuakim El-Rasi, volunteered to take then first step in this direction.
He took four young men as the first boarder students to live with him in his own house. In the fall of 1881, the school had to move to a bigger location since the place became too small to accommodate the large number of students who came from all over Lebanon, Syria and Palestine to enroll in the school. To meet this much of students, the two founders, Rev. William Eddy and Dr. George Ford, tried in vain to get a license from the Othomarr Empire to build a school. Then they could get a license to build personal living quarters. When they started the construction in 1884. The government objected that the building under construction was not a house but a school. The mission didn't yield to such pressure, to continue the construction. In 1884, the school moved to its new building in down-town Saida, which included all the academic and boarding facilities. The school was called "Gerard Institute" and the new building was called "Wood Hall", all in recognition of the family of the generous donator "Sara Wood Gerard".

Gerard Institute, like its sister school Sidon Girls' School, offered both the academic and technical training. The academic branch included the regular courses as described' by Dr. George Ford in 1903: Arabic language, (both grammar and literature), logic, philosophy, review of judicial sentences, and mental philosophy.

The social sci. courses included ancient history, geography, and civics. The science courses included health care, natural philosophy, botany, geology, chemistry, and anatomy. The mathematics courses included arithmetic, algebra and geometry. The language of instruction was Arabic and then changed into English.
The technical branch included carpentry, blacksmithing, sewing, shoe making and building. Hence, the Arabic name of the school" Madrasat Al Funun" (The translation of the School of Arts) was given to the instruction. Later on, the technical curriculum was stopped, except for the commerce program which was added in the sixties.

Later on, the school developed its curriculum to fit into that of the official one of the Lebanese Ministry of Education. After the independence of Lebanon in 1945, new laws were inacted by the Ministry of Education specifying the rules for entrance into universities, and recognition of university degrees. All Lebanese students should have a Lebanese Baccalaureate Part II as a prequisite for enrollement in the universities, and consequently to evaluate any university degree the bearer should have a Lebanese Baccalaureate Part II.

Our School has four sections. The first, the pre-elementary school, consisting of 3 years: K.G.I(3 years of age), K.G.II (4 years of age), and the preparatory (5 years of age). The second is the elementary consisting of 5 classes. The third is the intermediate. It consists of 4 years ending with an official government exam (The Brevet). The fourth section is the secondary consisting of 2 branches. The academic branch consists of three classes. The first secondary (scientific & literary). The second secondary (scientific & literary) and the third secondary (the Math section, the Experimental section & the Philosophy branch) ending with the Baccalaureate part II. The second branch is the business or commercial section consisting of three classes after the Brevet and ending with the Baccalaureate II (technical).

Financially, the school is self-supporting academically. Fees are decided in
agreement with a parents' committee which is elected by all the parents of the students under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. The fees in our school are low in comparison with the other school of Sidon. During the civil war of Lebanon, our institution had difficulty in raising our fees to meet the high cost of living caused by the depreciation of the Lebanese Pound. But this didn't hinder our efforts to continue our educational mission.

Among our main goals is to help building up the minds and souls of our students, and to help the community as a whole, including all the different socio-economical classes. We are a non-profit institution, and make sure that our services are not restricted to the elite. We have a scholarship program to help those who are in need.

Our services are well appreciated by the community. This attitude is manifested by the choice of the parents to enroll their children in our school, as it is obvious in the large number of enrollment. We are proud also to spay that many of our graduates are leading figures in all the branches of life, socially, economically, and politically, not only in Lebanon, but also in most of the Arab World.
As for the other financial obligations such as repairs, modernization and maintenance, we depend on the Synod and sister institutions.

Up till 1959, the two schools were owned and run by the American Presbyterian Mission. During that year, they were turned over to the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon which runs them, with other sister schools, in the same enthusiasm and ideals of the founders. In 1985, the two schools were united into one under the new name" The National Evangelical Institute For Girls & Boys". Thus, the long history of Sidon Girls' School (which official founders' day is 1862) and Gerard Institute (which official founders' day is 1881) joined hands to continue in their prestigious heritage as manifected in the lives of their thousands of graduates all over the world.

Lastly, a word about the noble goals and aims of these institutions may explain why they were founded and could continue serving during the bad and good times they faced in their long history. The schools are dedicated to serve the young men and women of the Arab World of any race, nationality, or religion, and help them to grow mentally, socially, and spiritually in a free and democratic environment, so that they will be active members in their homes, countries, and the world in general.

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