On the eve of the new school year, the issue of the compensation fund for teachers in private schools has resurfaced.
The issue at stake remains the devaluation of the indemnities and retirement pensions paid to teachers.
In this context, the Secretary-General of Catholic Schools, Father Youssef Nasr, called for a meeting between the school administrations and the fund’s administrative board.
During a televised intervention on Thursday on LBCI, Nasr proposed forming an audit council to monitor the compensation fund and the arbitration councils and to support schools located in the border regions of South Lebanon. He also insisted on establishing a monthly account statement to control the payments that should be made by schools to the fund.
Stressing the importance of developing a set of new decrees, he called upon the state and the Ministry of Education to act in this regard. He also called on Parliament to develop new laws, given that “the current laws are outdated and no longer adapted to the exceptional circumstances” the country is going through.
Head of the Private School Teachers Union Nehmeh Mahfoud announced that the general assemblies will meet on Friday, September 20, to vote on authorizing the union to act in defense of teachers’ rights for respectable indemnities and retirement pensions.
Mahfoud blamed the government for not issuing a decree to appoint a new board of directors for the compensation fund. According to him, this step is necessary to “develop a financial rescue plan.”
At the end of a meeting of the union’s executive council, Mahfoud expressed regret that the protocol established between private educational institutions and the teachers’ union, under the patronage of the Ministry of Education, has not been renewed.
This protocol was concluded on January 16, 2024, setting an increase in the contribution paid by schools to the compensation fund to improve teachers’ indemnities and retirement pensions.
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