The committees of contracted teachers in official basic and secondary education have sent a letter to the Minister of Education in the caretaker government, Dr. Abbas Halabi, and to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Education Committee, MP Hassan Murad, along with its members and all participants in the educational conference. They called for "the formulation of a fair and just law to include contracted teachers in basic and secondary education according to the needs of schools and secondary institutions, especially after the vacancies resulting from retirement age, resignations, and leave."
The committees also demanded an increase in the hourly wage for contracted teachers in primary education to $6 and $8 for secondary education, paid in Lebanese lira through the Sayrafa platform, with the price being flexible according to the fluctuations of the dollar exchange rate throughout the academic year. They requested financial incentives of no less than $300 for contracted teachers, linked to their number of hours, and an amendment to the transportation allowance decree from 3 days to every day of attendance.
Furthermore, they called for giving contracted teachers all the financial and social benefits and incentives offered to their colleagues in the permanent staff, a review of the contractual terms with teachers to ensure the Ministry's commitment to teaching 36 weeks, and specifying that teachers are not to be considered part of any strike or disruption of the academic year. They also asked for educational grants for their children based on the principle of equality with permanent staff, an agreement with the Ministry of Health allowing contracted teachers access to medical care and hospitalization at the Ministry's expense, contracts for auxiliary teachers to be funded by the Ministry of Education, and transfers for contracted teachers prior to the start of the academic year.
They insisted that the financial entitlements for the third semester be settled as soon as possible, adjusting the new wage to 150,000 LBP for primary and 270,000 LBP for secondary education. The committees urged the Ministry of Education to "communicate with the Minister of Communications and demand that all contracted teachers be included in the discounted mobile phone tariffs implemented for public administration employees." They also called for transferring the procedural material dues from contributions to the Ministry of Education's budget, resolving the issue of the procedural dues with the Court of Accounts regarding exceeding the annual fees paid by 15 million, and granting contracted teachers a daily transportation allowance funded by the Parent Council and the school.
The committees emphasized the "necessity of achieving these demands, otherwise there will be no academic year as there was last year at the expense of our rights, pains, and deprivation of entitlements."
