Statement Issued by the Contractual Teachers’ League in Lebanese Primary Public Schools (CTLP)

Beirut, October 2, 2024

Subject: Appeal to Stop the War, Protect the People, and Ensure the Right of Students to Education and Teachers to Receive Their Dues to Help Them Live Amidst War and Displacement

The association calls on the international community to stop the Israeli aggression on our beloved country Lebanon and urges the government to take responsibility for the displaced and the entire Lebanese population.

First: Teachers and students are suffering from displacement and homelessness, losing the most basic necessities of life (bedding, food, medicine…).

Second: What is the fate of the academic year, with public schools and some private schools turning into shelters for the displaced? As for “blended learning”, which the Ministry of Education proposed, regardless of the psychological state of students, teachers, and parents, it requires adapting the curriculum to align with the current situation, which imposes an uncertain path for the academic year. It also requires providing internet and iPads for both students and teachers. What are the resources to provide these?

Third: Contract teachers, permanent staff, and principals are collectively fulfilling their national duty within schools that have been converted into housing units for the displaced. The educational staff is working to assist the displaced and provide them with whatever they can.

Since contract teachers constitute more than 70% of the official teaching staff, they are fulfilling their national duties, yet they do not receive fixed salaries. This means that those among them who are displaced, those who have formed assistance cells for the displaced, and those who remain in their homes are all raising their voices to the concerned parties, demanding the immediate reimplementation of the full contract law number 235, which mandates the payment of dues to contract teachers based on the number of their hours in exceptional circumstances that prevent them from working. This is precisely what is happening, as contract teachers are expressing their willingness to join schools to assist, to teach in person where possible, to teach remotely if the necessary resources are provided, and to commit to teaching in the coming days if the academic year is extended. This justifies the government’s continued payment of productivity allowances to enable them to provide for their most basic needs.

Accordingly, the president of the association has communicated with the concerned parties in the Ministry of Education and the government and has learned the following:

– Once the three thousand billion decree is signed, productivity allowances will be paid to all teachers, both contract and tenured, at a rate of $300 per month (the same previous amount, without increase).

– The directive regarding increases for the public sector does not include contract teachers.

Therefore, regardless of the minimal increase for the public sector, especially in light of the war and displacement that has affected everyone without exception, the association demands that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education include contract teachers in the issued directive and not marginalize them in any future decisions. The association also demands the doubling of productivity allowances, as $300 barely covers basic needs.

The Association will follow up on these matters with the concerned parties to ensure justice for contract teachers and to equate them with public sector employees and permanent teachers, especially since they constitute more than 70% of the teaching staff, meaning they are the most displaced and scattered in these tragic circumstances.

How can a teacher provide the minimum for their family while being displaced without a salary? How can they live on only $300 a month? Finally, the association hopes that the international community, as well as the Lebanese government and officials in Lebanon, will take responsibility for the defenceless people of Lebanon, who have suffered hundreds of martyrs, thousands of wounded, and a million displaced so far, without a conscience being shaken in this world.

Head of the Association, 

Dr. Nasrine Shaheen

What you can do:

• Join protests for the 10 October day of workplace action to Stop arming Israel
• Send a message of solidarity to the CTLP (info@ctlp.net – please copy in action@menasolidaritynetwork.net and we will ensure it gets passed on)