Lebanon’s Public School Teachers Go On Strike

In a statement released yesterday, the unions of primary, secondary, and vocational public school teachers announced their intention to go on strike until Sunday January 15th. The statement, titled “No Benefits No Public School,” articulated how teachers were let down by the Minister of Education’s false promises about benefits, and presented their grievances and demands.

The Minister of Education Abbas Halabi had previously said that the ministry would be moving forward with productivity benefits. However, the unions were let down by Halabi’s offer, which materialized as $5 (232,000 L.L. at current rates) payment for each day of work. After the start of this strike, Halabi reversed this move, stating that “he did not know that his initiative would be perceived as an attack on the dignity of members of the teaching profession.”

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— mazen hachicho (@mazhac) January 9, 2023

The unions, which had returned to work after Halabi’s comments last week, began their action plan for the week with an “apology to all the colleagues that had warned us that these benefits would not be available and not paid.” They also reiterated their longstanding demands for improvements of teachers’ compensations, before asking the government and parliament to form an emergency crisis committee to deal with the state of public education.

The immense series of crises that have hit Lebanon over the past few years have been felt acutely in the educational sector, where both teachers and students have taken the brunt of the deteriorating economy and state. With private school tuition skyrocketing, public schools have become a shelter for some of the country’s most marginalized communities, including the vast refugee population in the country.

Alarmingly, the teachers’ statement calls on Halabi to “make due the promise he made in front of donor countries,” which stated that no education for Lebanese students means no education for refugees, by shutting down the “night shift” in public schools. The “night shift” is the hours dedicated to refugee education after normal public school hours. An example of some of the xenophobia that has managed to seep into the overworked teaching body.

Protests will be held in front of the Ministry of Education and educational facilities nationwide tomorrow, January 11th.