Pupils in a classroom at the Abra public school in South Lebanon. (Credit: Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
Public schools in Saida will close Monday to protest the impact of the economic crisis on the education sector, particularly on its teaching staff, the schools' teachers and principals announced Sunday in a statement received by L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region.
"Given the difficult economic circumstances that everyone is going through, including teachers who no longer have the ability to travel to their place of work, the directors and teachers of public schools in Saida announce a forced leave on Monday and will not go to their institutions, so that their suffering reaches the authorities concerned," the statement said.
The principals of 11 public schools in Saida signed the text.
Lebanon has been grappling with a severe economic crisis since 2019. The fallout of the crisis has impacting many sectors, including the education sector. As prices of essential commodities such as gasoline rise, the national currency continues to depreciate in value against the US dollar, devastating the purchasing power of many state employees, including teachers.
Reporting contributed by Muntasser Abdullah