Lara Debs & Yasha Kassardjian

The idea of ​​Quest Education was born from a need. Lara Hanna Debs, a mother of three, realized the extent of the lack of academic orientation that all Lebanese students are facing while helping her daughter to continue her studies in the United States. She decided to partner with Yasha Sfeir Kassardjian, a passionate educator and launched the project.

Quest Education is an academic center that assists students from school to university and centralizes everything they may need for their studies. The future being for e-learning, the center also offers an online university program in partnership with the Cambridge Management and Leadership School (CMLS) based in London.

SpecialMadame Figaro: What is the concept of Quest Education?

Lara Hanna Debs: The project revolves around three structures. First, the academic support for students from brevet to terminale. The goal is to prepare them for the official Lebanese and French exams. Our second structure offers workshops for adults in the mornings, courses in art history, coaching, cinema, gemology, painting, theater, mediation etc. And finally, the third structure, exclusively online, is the result of a partnership with Cambridge Management and Leadership School.

SpecialMadame Figaro: What distinguishes Quest Education from other education centers or after-schools around Lebanon?

Lara Hanna Debs: First, we don’t help students in their homework or school diary. The idea is to prepare them for official exams and later on for their entrance exams for major universities and local or international schools. Quest Education offers training for SAT certificates, TOEFL and an official EILTS exam center. Our consulting service is also very successful given the lack of academic and professional orientation that most Lebanese students face. A Career Counselor supervises students and introduces them to local and international universities in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy etc. Depending on their specialization, she offers them group or individual workshops, to learn how to write their university application or how to choose their specialization since many students don’t know the process. Student to student workshops are also organized where students who are already based in the UK share their experience with local students. We plan to expand this workshop with ESSEC, HEC, LYON and even the Italian fashion school Marangoni by December.

Yasha Sfeir Kassardjian: We also have a small art school for students who are preparing their portfolio for art studies. The goal is always to meet the needs of today's youth, which is why our courses are not static. We evolve with the demand of the market. For example we are now offering courses in robotics or coding, given the major interest in these fields.

*Full interview avaible in our October 2018 issue