Lebanese University Teachers Announce Open-Ended Strike until Signed as Full-Timers

Lebanese University teachers announced on Wednesday that they will not go back to the university and will not hold any exams until they are contracted as full-time employees.

"We will not go back to giving classes until we become full-time teachers, and we will not prepare exam questions, correct exams, supervise or hold them until we become full-time teachers,” a spokesperson of the teachers stated during a protest at the Riad Solh Square in the afternoon.

“This is an open-ended strike because the Lebanese University is in danger,” he stressed.

He explained: “Since 2008 we have been protesting and continuously struggling in classrooms... We are here to prevent harming the national university, because we are its shield, its blood and its youth. We will not allow overthrowing this cause because it's the Lebanese youth's right. ”

The protesters called on Prime Minister Tammam Salam to accept signing them as full-time employees, praising meanwhile Education Minister Elias Bou Saab's efforts to push their cause forward.

"We are with you in the battle of saving the national university and we will only go back when we are contracted as full-time employees. And then, we will tell our students the story of our struggle and how we held onto the nation.”

They vowed that they will not return to the university until their “names are listed in the Official Gazette as full-time teachers.”

S.D.B.

M.T.