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The agreement, approved by the caretaker government, between the Teachers’ Syndicate and the Federation of Private Educational Institutions under the auspices of the Ministry of Education for financing the indemnity fund (amounting to 100 billion Lebanese Pounds) for the teaching community has enabled the fund to pay salary increases to retired teachers amounting to six times their initial salary in January and February 2024.
The agreement stipulates that schools must pay 180 billion pounds before February 15, which did not happen, as only 500 out of 1,300 private schools complied. These figures raise concerns among retired teachers that the fund may not be able to pay these increases in the coming months, as it needs 60 billion pounds for that purpose. Will schools be able to pay these amounts? Father Youssef Nasr made an appeal on behalf of the Federation of Institutions, demanding that schools commit to paying 900,000 pounds per pupil per year in compliance with the agreement, knowing that it is not binding, given that it is an agreement, not a law.
The compensation fund is plagued by another crisis, according to its general manager, Georges Sakr. The fund’s operating expenses, which amounted to no more than 5% of its budget, now constitute more than 35% of the annual budget. This is due to the fact that expenses are mostly paid in dollars, while incomes are still earned in Lebanese pounds and have not increased, knowing that they are likely to rise in light of the need to increase the salaries of the Fund’s employees, which have been devalued after the financial crisis. According to Sakr, private employees continue to fulfill their duties throughout the week without any delay, while their colleagues in the public sector receive financial incentives approved by the Council of Ministers in its last session.
According to Sakr, the fund’s financial crisis, which is related to compensation and operational expenses, necessitates a law that ensures the flow of income after the caretaker prime minister rejected the laws stipulating financial assistance to the fund, amounting to 650 billion pounds, and the organization of teaching staff in private schools.
The joint committees had met and voted to return the two laws to the government, pending the resolution of the issue in the General Assembly. But until a legislative session is held and this issue is resolved, how will the compensation fund pay the increases in the coming months? The caretaker government took a decision to add three salaries for public sector employees and retirees, and teachers in the public sector, bringing their salary increases to nine times. This should apply to retired private sector teachers based on the unity of legislation between the public and private sectors, but the current circumstances do not allow for this before the two laws are passed again and the funds are secured.
Surprisingly, the state does not care about the continuity of the compensation fund, which preserves the retirement and compensation of thousands of teachers in the private sector who need to increase their indemnity quickly after their savings in the fund lost their value as severance pay in a dramatic decline. Now, 200,000 dollars does not amount to more than 2,000 dollars as severance pay for teachers who have practiced their profession for more than 40 years, in a country that has no regard for its active and retired teachers. This threatens to drive a new generation away from the teaching profession, while a large number of teachers have left for other professions or to teach abroad.
