By Nohad Topalian | 2023-09-19

BEIRUT -- While most private school students in Lebanon returned to their classrooms this month, public school students have yet to do so, and it remains unclear how the burgeoning crisis in the education sector will be resolved.

The unions of primary, secondary and formal vocational teachers on September 9 announced they would not comply with Minister of Education Abbas al-Halabi's call for them to be present at their schools on September 14.

Al-Halabi had asked the teachers to come into their schools to prepare for the school year slated to start in October, with a schedule of four days a week.

But teachers did not report for duty, and say they will not come in until what is owed to them is paid (some are still due payment for their last term), their salaries are corrected in dollars, and they receive health and other benefits.

This includes daily transportation fees.

The decline in the value of teachers' salaries is a result of the national economic collapse, which many in Lebanon blame on Hizbullah's chokehold on the national decision-making process.

The Lebanese currency's decline against the dollar has diminished purchasing power, eroding the value of teacher salaries and contributing to their discontent.

Public school teachers, who are paid a monthly salary of less than $100, are demanding that this be raised to $600 before they return to work.

The Ministry of Education requested a $150 million budget allocation, and in August, the cabinet approved an advance of $50 million -- just a third of the amount the ministry requested. But this has not yet been implemented.

Disrupted learning

Meanwhile, the education of Lebanese nationals and Syrian refugees is in jeopardy. If schools do not open their doors, the education of about 200,000 Lebanese students and 175,000 Syrian students will be disrupted.

Among them is Syrian refugee Nour Karam, 17, who is close to finishing high school, and her three younger brothers, all of whom attend a public school in the Beirut neighborhood of Achrafieh.

She told Al-Fassel she would not register for school and pay the seven million LBP ($465) registration fee "before the matter of the school year is decided."

Syrian refugee Youssef Yassin, who lives in the Mount Lebanon municipality of Mazraat Yachouh, said his compatriots in Lebanon believe the fate of their children's education is linked to whether or not public schools open their doors.

"Today, I do not know if my three daughters will go to school this year in light of the problems facing public education that do not bode well for schools," he told Al-Fassel.

"My financial means do not allow me to enroll them in a private school, so I hope that the problems will be resolved so that all students can attend school."

Association of Basic Education Teachers head Hussein Jawad told Al-Fassel there has been "a real stumble" in the launch of the school year.

Teachers "cannot attend school four days a week with a salary that does not exceed $70, amid deteriorating economic conditions and inflation of the Lebanese currency," he said.

"The salary does not cover our minimum ordinary expenses."

"Therefore, we will not attend school."

Increase in tuition

Private School Teachers Syndicate head Nehme Mahfoud told Al-Fassel that some private schools opened at the beginning of September, while others are completing their preparations to begin the school year.

Teachers returned to school "after the syndicate reached an agreement with the Private Schools Union to pay between 35 and 65% of the amount of teachers' pre-crisis salaries in dollars," he said.

"The majority of schools adhered to the agreement, with the exception of some, which portends action by teachers," Mahfoud said.

He described what the education sector is going through, both public and private, as "the destruction of education in Lebanon, and the elimination of an entire generation that is supposed to be the country's promising future."

The school situation is "tragic" for parents as well, said Union of Parents' Committees of Private Schools in Lebanon head Lama Tawil.

"Private school administrations raised tuition fees in both dollars and Lebanese pounds between 200 and 400%," she said, with tuition fees for the new school year ranging between $800 and $7,000.

"Families were forced to sell their belongings to reserve a seat for their children, and others were forced to transfer their children to public schools, where no one knows if their doors will open or not."

An-Nahar newspaper education sector editor Ibrahim Hayder told Al-Fassel that serious challenges face public education, "that may lead to public schools not opening their doors to Lebanese and Syrian students."

This is a result of "the collapse that has been going on for four years, and collapse of the livelihoods of teachers."

Teachers are demanding that their salaries be raised and that they be given benefits, he said, and this is playing out at the same time that there has been "a suspension of support of formal education by donors."

He said the solution lies in "holding the Ministry of Education, along with the government and the education sector, responsible, and the development of an actual plan to save the school year."