Private Schools to Reopen Monday, Teachers Threaten to Boycott Official Exams, Elections

Head of private schools teachers association Nehme Mahfoud on Sunday warned that teachers might boycott official exams and their role as poll clerks in the upcoming parliamentary elections if the new wage scale was not referred to parliament, as Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas revealed that 80% of the funding of the new scale has been provided.

"We're still part of the protest movement, contrary to all the rumors and misconceptions," Mahfoud said, after a meeting for the Syndicate Coordination Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees.

Mahfoud announced earlier on Sunday that private schools will resume classes on Monday, with demonstrations set to take place in the afternoon.

Mahfoud said the decision was taken at the request of President Michel Suleiman who pledged to tackle the new wage scale during the first cabinet session after his return from an upcoming African tour.

The Public Schools Teachers Association, meanwhile, declared that the open-ended strike will continue in all public schools in Lebanon until the new wage scale is referred to parliament.

During the press conference held later on Sunday, Mahfoud said: "We will resort to other forms of protest, as we can educate the students and hold demos after classes."

"No one can protect teachers except their association and I salute many parent committees who expressed solidarity with the SCC and supported teachers' rights," he added.

"We salute the president of the republic because he is the only official who intervened and acted as a mediator," Mahfoud went on to say.

But he warned that teachers might boycott official exams and the parliamentary elections if the new wage scale was not referred to parliament by the government.

The SCC had announced nearly two weeks ago an open-ended strike over the government's failure to send the wage scale bill to the legislature.

It has been holding daily demonstrations at various ministries and institutions to pressure the cabinet to resolve this issue.

Meanwhile, Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas revealed that 80 percent of the funding of the new wage scale has been provided, adding that the government has been searching for the sources of the funding since September, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

He told the daily however that the strikes, held by the Syndicate Coordination Committee, have been harming the government efforts to resolve the dispute.

He added that these efforts had been hampered by various internal security incidents and the Syrian crisis.

“We will reach the solution,” asserted the minister.