Joint Parliamentary Committees Unify Pay Hike for Public, Private School Teachers
The joint parliamentary committees agreed on Wednesday to unify the new wage scale for public and private school teachers.
The head of the parliamentary finance committee, Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan, briefed reporters after the session on the decision.
He pointed out that lawmakers “reject any attempt to deprive teachers from their rights,” voicing fears that tuition fees might be increased and become a burden on parents.
However, Kanaan stressed that the education ministry will monitor any increase in tuition fees through the establishment of a committee.
The salary hike has been at the center of controversy since it was approved by the government of ex-Prime Minister Najib Miqati in 2012. Several parliamentary blocs had refused to approve the draft-law over fears that it would have devastating effects on the economy.
Parliament failed to discuss earlier this month the wage hike draft-law after Speaker Nabih Berri sent back the bill to the joint parliamentary committees for discussion over differences on the raise.
Education Minister Elias Bou Saab lashed out at MPs after the session, considering that “no progress has been achieved.”
“The seriousness of the work on the wage scale didn't change,” Bou Saab told reporters, in hints that lawmakers are undermining the matter.
Deputy Speaker Farid Makari, who chaired Wednesday's session, snapped back at Bou Saab saying: “The fellow lawmakers are exerting tremendous efforts to carry out their duty” regarding the matter.
He expressed hope that the minister would deal in an “objective way with MPs.”
Earlier in October, private school teachers held a rally near parliament to protest their exclusion from the raise, demanding equality among teachers.
The head of the private school teachers association, Nehme Mahfoud accused lawmakers of trying to create divisions among the members of the Syndicate Coordination Committee, which is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees.
The SCC had been holding demonstrations over the past three years to ask for the wage hike.
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