Are private school teachers heading for another strike to demand improved pay and pensions?
The president of the private school teachers’ union, Nehme Mahfoud, assured on Tuesday that teachers will not be able to continue working next year with current salaries in light of “the scandalously high prices and taxes imposed by the budget.”
He pointed out, in an interview with Voice of Lebanon, that “the laws referred by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the joint parliamentary committees to the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berry, demand that they be placed on the agenda because the protocol of honor between school owners and the Ministry of Education has not been respected.” He added, “50% of private schools are in default payment.”
He indicated that a meeting would be held on Wednesday between the president of the private schools union and the caretaker Minister of Education, Abbas Halabi. The aim is to find solutions that guarantee the rights of retired teachers; otherwise, the teachers will be forced to resort to strike action.
For his part, the Secretary General of Catholic Schools, Father Youssef Nasr, stressed “the need to improve teachers’ living conditions” and implicitly criticized the absence of state responsibility.
The president of the Union of Evangelical Schools, Nabil Costa, called for “the need to cooperate to preserve private schools.” He added, “Our fees are studied and based on the principle of real budgets.”
