A special Cabinet session to tackle key education issues in Lebanon will be held soon, President Michel Aoun announced over the weekend. Aoun informed a delegation of parents’ committees in private schools Saturday that he had agreed with Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh to hold an exceptional Cabinet session on education.
One of the main points to be discussed in the session will be the controversy over the new salary scale law which upped teachers’ salaries and therefore impacted tuition fees.
Aoun told the delegation he has been closely following the developments and the aftermath of the endorsement of the salary hike in July.
“[The president informed] the delegation that he studied several suggestions for a suitable solution with those concerned,” the statement read. Aoun reportedly promised that solutions would be devised before Jan. 31.
As Aoun was meeting with the delegation of private school teachers to discuss the issue, dozens of their colleagues gathered outside Baabda Palace to protest wage stagnation and proposed tuition increases.
The president has been deliberating over various suggestions, including distributing the incurred burden on government, schools, teachers and parents. Another suggestion is to pay the salary increases in installment as well as work toward creating a system of free education in Lebanon that is supported by the state.
The presidency said that Aoun hoped the Cabinet session would result in decisions that will be acceptable to all parties involved in the debate.
Teachers have been calling for wage hikes since the salary scale, Law 46, was passed.
Many parents whose children are in private schools have refused to pay for any increase in tuition to cover additions to the teachers’ salaries, saying the burden of this should fall on the administrations only.
Many parents, along with their children, have made their position on the situation known through protests in their children’s schools.
The mandated salary hikes have reportedly led some administrations to call for an up to 30 percent increase in school tuition fees in order to fund the new wages.
The government has repeatedly said it does not have the funds to support the salary increase.
Hamadeh last week also renewed calls for a Cabinet session to be dedicated strictly to the education sector.
Hamadeh Saturday confirmed that the Cabinet session would be held “as soon as possible,” chaired by Hariri, before a delegation from the Syndicate of Private School Teachers headed by Rudolf Abboud.
Mirna al-Khoury, the president of the Federation of Parents’ Committees in Catholic Schools in Kesrouan-Ftouh and Jbeil, told Aoun that the recent controversy has been impacting around 700 thousand private-school students across Lebanon. “And adding to them their families, the case now impacts half of the Lebanese people,” Khoury said.
She said that the parents’ calls for the authority to intervene in this matter resulted from the reality that they had to enroll their children in private schools since public schools were unable to provide an equal level of education.
“[Student’s enrollment] in private schools isn’t only a choice or a luxury but an obligatory alternative given public schools’ inability to absorb all students,” Khoury said. “This is in addition to the weakness in its [public schools] educational equipment and education level, particularly [at] pre-high school levels.”
Although the parents have resorted to the state for help in the tuition fees debate, Khoury maintained that this doesn’t reduce the responsibility of school administrations.
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai Sunday also expressed hope for a breakthrough, thanking Aoun for his efforts to find a common ground between the conflicting sides.
“The state has the solution and it needs to take a decision,” Rai told a delegation of parents’ committees in private schools. “It shouldn’t pass the buck on to the parents, schools or teachers.”
© Copyright The Daily Star 2018.
One of the main points to be discussed in the session will be the controversy over the new salary scale law which upped teachers’ salaries and therefore impacted tuition fees.
Aoun told the delegation he has been closely following the developments and the aftermath of the endorsement of the salary hike in July.
“[The president informed] the delegation that he studied several suggestions for a suitable solution with those concerned,” the statement read. Aoun reportedly promised that solutions would be devised before Jan. 31.
As Aoun was meeting with the delegation of private school teachers to discuss the issue, dozens of their colleagues gathered outside Baabda Palace to protest wage stagnation and proposed tuition increases.
The president has been deliberating over various suggestions, including distributing the incurred burden on government, schools, teachers and parents. Another suggestion is to pay the salary increases in installment as well as work toward creating a system of free education in Lebanon that is supported by the state.
The presidency said that Aoun hoped the Cabinet session would result in decisions that will be acceptable to all parties involved in the debate.
Teachers have been calling for wage hikes since the salary scale, Law 46, was passed.
Many parents whose children are in private schools have refused to pay for any increase in tuition to cover additions to the teachers’ salaries, saying the burden of this should fall on the administrations only.
Many parents, along with their children, have made their position on the situation known through protests in their children’s schools.
The mandated salary hikes have reportedly led some administrations to call for an up to 30 percent increase in school tuition fees in order to fund the new wages.
The government has repeatedly said it does not have the funds to support the salary increase.
Hamadeh last week also renewed calls for a Cabinet session to be dedicated strictly to the education sector.
Hamadeh Saturday confirmed that the Cabinet session would be held “as soon as possible,” chaired by Hariri, before a delegation from the Syndicate of Private School Teachers headed by Rudolf Abboud.
Mirna al-Khoury, the president of the Federation of Parents’ Committees in Catholic Schools in Kesrouan-Ftouh and Jbeil, told Aoun that the recent controversy has been impacting around 700 thousand private-school students across Lebanon. “And adding to them their families, the case now impacts half of the Lebanese people,” Khoury said.
She said that the parents’ calls for the authority to intervene in this matter resulted from the reality that they had to enroll their children in private schools since public schools were unable to provide an equal level of education.
“[Student’s enrollment] in private schools isn’t only a choice or a luxury but an obligatory alternative given public schools’ inability to absorb all students,” Khoury said. “This is in addition to the weakness in its [public schools] educational equipment and education level, particularly [at] pre-high school levels.”
Although the parents have resorted to the state for help in the tuition fees debate, Khoury maintained that this doesn’t reduce the responsibility of school administrations.
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai Sunday also expressed hope for a breakthrough, thanking Aoun for his efforts to find a common ground between the conflicting sides.
“The state has the solution and it needs to take a decision,” Rai told a delegation of parents’ committees in private schools. “It shouldn’t pass the buck on to the parents, schools or teachers.”
© Copyright The Daily Star 2018.
