More than two weeks have passed since the strike of public school teachers and their consecutive protests in various regions, with the latest taking place yesterday in front of the Saray in Halba, while the government continues to completely ignore their demands. Dozens of teachers from different categories (vocational, primary, secondary, part-time...) gathered yesterday in front of the Saray in Akkar to demand their rights, with the participation of local leaders and figures who came to support their rightful demands. The teachers carried slogans and banners they made by hand, including messages like: “The dignity of the teacher is above all consideration... We have the right to live with dignity...” expressing the depth of their pain.
Several speeches were delivered during the protest, urging the authorities to grant them their rights, especially incentives, as they can no longer afford the price of gasoline to commute to their schools. The presence of only a few local leaders, including Mukhtar Ali Al-Mazaq, who criticized the state for “forcing teachers to stand by the road to demand their usurped rights instead of being in classrooms educating and nurturing generations.” One of the participating teachers told "Nidaa Al-Watan”: “The state ties our fate and the fate of the entire academic year to the assistance of donor countries, treating us like the displaced; if aid arrives, they give us crumbs and tell us to return to schools, and if it doesn’t, they say stay at home because we don’t need you... Perhaps one day they will say that if the donor countries do not support you, we will throw you into the sea.”
Another teacher pointed out that “many fellow teachers planned to attend the protest and join us, but the bitter truth we must speak is that they do not have the money to buy gasoline to make it here.” Teacher Walid Nemeir read a statement on behalf of the protesters, affirming that “the government's neglect of teachers' demands intends to end the academic year.” He continued: “Our main demands from this movement today are to adjust the hourly wage in line with the cost of living and the increase in the price of the dollar, to issue a decree for transportation compensation to take effect for the past two years and the current one, to ensure monthly payment, to count the full contract, and to secure job stability, which is the fundamental demand.”
Afterward, Akkar Governor Imad Labaki and the head of the department, Luqman Al-Kurdi, joined the protesting teachers in front of the Saray, where Labaki listened to their demands. The protesters then moved to the Dar Al-Ifta Center in Akkar and met with Mufti Zayd Zakaria, explaining their conditions and demands. The Mufti expressed regret that “we have reached a time in a country of knowledge and civilization where education is at the bottom of the priorities of the officials in this country.” The teachers also raised their demands with the Bishop of Akkar, Basilios Mansour, seeking his support and backing.
