Students sit for the Lebanese baccalaureate at a high school in Beirut, July 10, 2023. (Credit: Hussam Chbaro)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Education Minister Abbas Halabi warned Tuesday that public schools cannot open this September in Lebanon unless dollar aid is secured to support teachers.
Schools still needed "sufficient means" to pay teachers in dollars, Halabi said during a meeting with UNICEF Lebanon representative Edouard Beigbeder.
Halabi also mentioned "the needs of schools, including the installation of solar energy panels, the rehabilitation of toilets in some schools, funding requirements for printing textbooks and supplying school coffers, as well as covering exam-related expenses."
During a meeting on Tuesday with a delegation from the Lebanese International Business Council, Halabi also revealed that "the public school [system] has lost nearly 3,000 teachers who have emigrated or resigned."
"The public schools and the Lebanese University will not be able to continue working with the budget allocated by the state," he warned.
In early 2023, public school teachers went on strike for several weeks to demand improved working conditions, as Lebanon continues its economic collapse.