There is currently no money to start a normal and sound school year in official schools. The 5,000 billion (55 million dollars) approved by the Cabinet in its session on August 17 to support public education and the Lebanese University has not reached the "pocket" yet. What Minister of Education Abbas Halabi was informed of yesterday by the Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Wissam Mansouri, was not encouraging, as he reiterated the general directions of the bank that it would not lend the state a single dollar without legal coverage and known guarantees and conditions, urging him to pressure the government to rank the educational sector at the top of its priorities and to correspond with the bank to request securing the amount.
This atmosphere was communicated by Halabi to representatives of educational party offices during a meeting he held in his office yesterday, asking political forces to assist him in pressuring the government to "release" the funds that constitute about a third of the amount requested by the Ministry of Education from the government (150 million dollars), which are necessary to launch a new school year in public education that is safe and stable. The minister clarified to the educational offices, according to "Al-Akhbar" newspaper, that he cannot start a school year without having "some funds" in his hands, indicating that public education associations wished him to postpone announcing registration dates and the start of the school year in public schools and high schools until the fine line between light and darkness is clear. However, the views of the party representatives differed regarding not delaying the scheduling of dates to avoid any loss that could occur with the migration of students to private education. There was a promise from Halabi to issue a decision soon.
Additionally, the minister conveyed information from international donor agencies that they will not provide any aid or grants in US dollars to teachers; rather, they will only transfer funds to school funds and for the education of Syrian refugees. It is noteworthy that the ministry received 75 million dollars last year, and the teachers did not receive all the productivity allowances in US dollars that they were promised, which was the basis for their unions ending the strike after about two and a half months of struggle for their rights. In conclusion, it became clear to the offices that "there is no money, and what is being circulated about supporting public education is still mere talk, and the Cabinet's expression of willingness during the educational session to schedule appropriations to secure productivity allowances for teachers has not been translated into action so far."
It is worth mentioning that the meeting with the Minister of Education is a continuation of the session held by the educational offices at the Progressive Socialist Party headquarters last week, during which they viewed the current problem in the educational sector as financial rather than educational, stressing that it is the government's responsibility to secure necessary funding and expedite the transfer of the treasury advance recently approved to the Ministry of Education's account and to pay it to the teachers as incentives in US dollars. That day, the offices called on donor agencies to "bear their responsibilities and fulfill their commitments towards the education sector, as they are responsible for educating both Lebanese and non-Lebanese without discrimination."
Representatives from the following attended the meeting at the Ministry of Education: the Educational Mobilization in Hezbollah, the Education and Teaching Commission of the Progressive Socialist Party, the Educational Office in the Amal Movement, the Education and Teaching Sector in the Future Movement, the Educational Office in the National Free Current, the Education Department in the Kataeb Party, and the Educational Office in the Marada Movement.
