Education Minister Abbas Halabi. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — Education Minister Abbas Halabi announced Tuesday the closure of private and public schools and universities Wednesday due to a planned land transport unions strike that is scheduled to last for three days, with sit-ins planned across Lebanon.
Here’s what we know:
• “After communicating with the competent security authorities, it has been decided to close schools, institutes, technical schools, the Lebanese University and all public and private universities, tomorrow Wednesday, due to the [protest] movement and the closing of roads, in order to preserve the safety of school children, students and the administrative and pedagogical body,” the minister said in a statement.
• He also called on all schools and educational establishments to intensify classes on Thursday to compensate for the closure the day before.
• The head of the land transport unions Bassam Tleiss confirmed Monday, during a press conference, a general strike of the sector on Feb. 2, 3 and 4. According to its organizers, this strike aims to demand that the government abide by the terms of an alleged agreement that took place between the unions and the government.