Lebanon: teachers on strike against salary cuts: thousands of students both Lebanese and refugees from Syria no longer attend classes

ROME – In January, teachers went on strike against the devaluation of their salaries. On January 9, they stopped going to the classroom and suspended morning classes, which are mainly attended by Lebanese students. Thus, the Ministry of Education, which receives funds from foreign donors for teaching refugees, has closed the afternoon shift classes – attended precisely by Syrian children – for a question of “equality”. “It is unacceptable that our children do not study while other people’s children do,” said a Human Rights Watch (HRW) a Ministry official.

The teachers’ strike. Teachers in Lebanon have long been protesting salaries and the conditions in which they work since Lebanon plunged into an unprecedented economic and health crisis about four years ago. Most of the goods and services in the country now cost in dollars or the equivalent expressed in the local currency, the Lebanese pound. Teachers’ salaries, on the other hand, did not have any adjustment based on the inflation rate which in 2022 stood at around 171.2 percent. At the beginning of February, 60,000 Lebanese pounds were needed to buy one dollar. Since the crisis erupted in 2019, the national currency has lost more than 95 percent of its value against the US.

The decision of the Ministry and the refusal of 5 dollars more. The Ministry of Education has thus decided to suspend the afternoon classes attended by Syrian refugee students as well. Imad Achkar, director general of the ministry, explained that the decision had been taken in accordance with the principle of equality “because it is not acceptable that Syrian children in Lebanon receive an education while Lebanese children do not”. The salaries of refugee teachers are paid by donor countries. The Ministry had secured some dollar incentives for teachers in 2022, but failed to keep its promises. Arab News reports that the teachers have refused the raise of five dollars a day, or seventy dollars a month, they are asking for at least one hundred. The lack of agreement thus led to the collapse of the school system.

Those who criticize are punished. The Center for Lebanese Studies, an independent research group, on January 19 called the ministry’s decision “racist”, but was punished for it. The center was located at the Lebanese American University of Beirut, which as of February 3, with a written letter, has decided to interrupt all relations with the Centre.

The motivations of the university. In the letter with which the Lebanese American University announced that it was suspending its employment relationship with the Center for Lebanese Studies, the former accused the latter of having improperly used the university logo. But the study center explained to HRW that it used the same logo in its protest against the Ministry that it has always used in official communications. And he underlined that it was the university itself in 2022 that asked the Study Center to highlight the university logo to highlight their collaboration.

Political statements. In an email sent to the NGO, the university argues that the Center’s statements have a political nature that risks negatively influencing the relationship with the Ministry of Education, at a time when any type of political affiliation must be avoided , given the economic and social instability that Lebanon is experiencing. Human Rights Watch already collaborated with the Center for Lebanese Studies on a research on the state of education in Lebanon, where one million children do not go to school.