Bou Saab: Postponing Official Exams Again is out of the Question

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab vowed on Thursday that the official school exams in Lebanon will be complete, especially in light of the growing number of Syrian refugees in the country.

He said: “It is out of the question for the official exams to be postponed again.”

He made his remarks during the launch of an Education Ministry plan aimed at ensuring that all children in Lebanon, including refugees, have access to education.

“The situation is very dangerous and no country in the world can support a number of refugees that equals the size of half of its own population,” added Bou Saab.

He noted that the number of registered refugees in Lebanon is increasing by 40,000 to 50,000 per month.

The ministry's plan will allow Lebanon to help the refugees on a humanitarian level, he stated.

“There is a major danger when three-year-old children are unable to enroll in schools,” he commented on the state of the displaced.

On Monday, the minister announced that official school exams would be postponed for five days pending a solution with the public sector employees and teachers who have threatened to boycott the exams over the parliament's failure to approve the controversial pay hike.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee on Wednesday declared a general strike at all ministries and public institutions on June 9 and 10, holding “the MPs who obstructed legislation for several months” responsible for a possible postponement of official school exams.

The SCC is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees.

M.T.