Regional Council

Young people had a tendency to be driven after the materialistic desires of the world, if not well-educated, and if their hearts were not filled with the love of piety and worship from an early age and before they are possessed by the desire for vices. They will not reach perfection and they will not commit to living by their good manners except with a great help from Almighty God.
Therefore, and according to the circumstances of the holy fathers, we have ordered the establishment of schools in cities, villages, and big monasteries, and that care is provided to keep them operating, so that the children of the city and neighboring villages would learn the basics. This is because, if it were best for a person to be enlightened from an early age, it is best for the church to choose its servants from those who were well-mannered and enlightened from an early age. In this way, they shall be raised in the house of God and in the monasteries, and grow old without diverting from the path they took since their youth.

Extract from  Lebanese regional Synod, 1736,  Chapter 6, Text 1