SCC Takes to the Streets and Bou Saab Warns: Academic Year at Risk

The Syndicate Coordination Committee held on Wednesday a protest near the education ministry in Beirut's UNESCO area to pressure MPs into approving the pay hike, as Minister of Education Elias Bou Saab warned that the academic year is “in danger.”

“Official exams are at risk and the academic year is at risk,” Bou Saab said after meeting with a SCC delegation in the afternoon.

“If we do not agree on a solution (regarding the new wage scale) in the coming two weeks, we will be confronting another challenge, in addition to that of refugee students whose number is expected to amount to 400,000 pupils,” the minister added.

Bou Saab ruled out closing schools that are not capable of paying teachers' dues, questioning at the same time the “seriousness” of the panel formed by the parliament to reexamine the wage scale draft.

Head of the private schools teachers association Nehme Mahfoud agreed with Bou Saab, saying that the excuses that were given to justify the panel's formation “were not serious.”

Legislators voted on Tuesday in favor of postponing the adoption of the new wage scale for two weeks, forming instead a panel to study the draft once again in the meantime.

Several parliamentary blocs expressed fears that Lebanon's economy would collapse if the appropriate means to fund the pay hike were not found.

Meanwhile, Head of SCC Hanna Gharib said after the talks with Bou Saab: “We are committed to all the articles of the wage scale and we demand that they be adopted in one phase, not in installments.”

Gharib also announced that a demonstration will be held next Tuesday in order to resolve the dispute over the new wage scale.

"We hope that positive developments will take place in order to avert any escalation,” he warned.

Earlier in the day, the SCC protested near the ministry of education and pledged to take further measures after Easter.

Similar sit-ins were held near government headquarters in different cities, including Tripoli, Tyre and Zahle, a day after the legislature failed to decide on the wage scale.

Beirut's protesters unleashed their rage at several lawmakers, who voted in favor of forming the parliamentary committee to reconsider the draft-law.

They criticized al-Mustaqbal MP Fouad Saniora, who had made the proposal, and Lebanese Forces lawmaker George Adwan.

The parliament's move angered the SCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, which in addition to protests, held a nationwide strike on Wednesday.

Several SCC officials warned at the UNESCO protest that public school teachers would boycott the correction of official exams if their demands were not met.

Another speaker promised not to back off, saying "our next encounter is after the Easter holidays," which start on Friday and last till Monday.

The state-run National News Agency said that Bou Saab delivered a message to the cabinet on behalf of Gharib, warning the authorities of further action after Easter.

The cabinet held a session under President Michel Suleiman's chairmanship at Baabda Palace.

Later, Gharib denied during a press conference at Riad al-Solh square that the economy and the banking sector would suffer if the pay hike was approved by MPs.

He said there will be an “open-ended battle.”

Gharib also threatened to hold an open-ended strike and boycott the election of official exams.

G.K./ S.D.B.

H.K./ Y.R.