Lebanon's public school teachers entered their third day of strike action with a protest outside the Education Ministry on Wednesday.
Hundreds gathered to express their discontent over devalued salaries and the dire work conditions under which they have been operating since the start of Lebanon’s prolonged economic crisis.
While most goods and services in the financially struggling nation are now priced either in US dollars or their equivalent in local currency, teachers do not receive a salary commensurate with the rate of inflation.
Lebanon’s financial collapse, now in its fourth year and with no signs of abating, has driven more than 80 per cent of the population into poverty after banks informally imposed capital control that locked people out of the full value of their savings.
The local currency is now worth just a fraction of what it once was, while inflation hovers in the triple digits.
'Our place is in the classroom, not the streets'
High school maths teacher Hanan Fawaz says her demands are “very basic".
Ms Fawaz and other teachers want salary adjustments that match the local currency’s rapid devaluation — preferably paid in US dollars — transport allowances and better healthcare coverage.
A public school teacher’s monthly wage is about 3,000,000 Lebanese pounds a month, or almost $70, which is “not even enough to get us to school", she said.
“We’re not disconnected from reality," Ms Fawaz said. "We know what the economic situation is in the country, so we’re not making unrealistic demands.
"But every other public sector got a salary adjustment for employees. Why not us?”
Another protester nodded emphatically.
“Our place is in the classroom, not in the streets,” she said. “We taught the ministers and the judges and all those who are in positions of power now.
"It was teachers who got them to where they are today. So now they need to take responsibility.”
Public school teachers were on strike sporadically throughout 2022, with the most recent strike lasting more than a month.
It ended with promises from the Education Ministry that salaries would be tripled and each teacher would receive another monthly incentive of $130, paid in Lebanese lira at the set Central Bank’s Sayrafa rate.
They would also receive a transport allowance of 95,000 lira for each working day.
But the $130 monthly incentive did not arrive.
“The Education Minister promised something he wasn’t able to deliver,” said Hussein Jawad, who leads the public school teachers' union.
“And the day that our salary adjustments came into effect, the lira devalued further against the dollar. Every teacher lost around $60 from their salary before they even received it.”
Fuel prices have also skyrocketed: at the time the transport allowance was promised, a litre of petrol was 300,000 lira.
“Now it’s over 800,000 lira and the transportation stipend is already almost worthless,” Mr Jawad said.
Some teachers struggled to make it to Wednesday's protest.
“They gave us our demands with their right hand and they took everything away with their left hand,” Mr Jawad said, trying to illustrate the futility of receiving local salary adjustments in Lebanon’s swiftly devaluing currency.
The overstressed and overcrowded public education sector is in a dire predicament.
Teachers say they are faced with no choice but to strike again now that their salaries have again drastically devalued and drained their purchasing power.
But many teachers were at pains to distance themselves from the teacher’s unions, which they said did not represent them.
They say the unions have affiliations to Lebanon’s political parties, which are widely regarded as having contributed to the country’s economic demise.
“We didn’t come here for the syndicates, we came to represent ourselves because they don’t represent us,” said Ms Fawaz.
Teachers were at a breaking point last week when the caretaker minister of education, Abbas Halabi, announced a decision to provide teachers with a $5 incentive for every day worked.
Teachers and their syndicates, or unions, saw this decision as a humiliation, prompting outrage.
As a result of the strike the spring semester has yet to begin, renewing doubts about the quality of Lebanon’s struggling public school education.
“There’s no education any more,” said Mustafa Hussein, 18, who attended the sit-in to support his teachers.
“We’re seeing our future slip away but we can’t blame the teachers. They’re trying as hard as they can to teach us every day.”
Mr Jawad told The National that the strike was technically due to finish by the end of the week, but would be renewed on a weekly basis if teachers’ demands were not met.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
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Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
Third Test
Day 3, stumps
India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151
India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining
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Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
The years Ramadan fell in May
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
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