
Professors on hourly-paid contracts with the Lebanese University staged a sit-in on Monday in front of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education headquarters in Beirut. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT – Professors on hourly-paid contracts with the Lebanese University staged a sit-in on Monday in front of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education headquarters in Beirut, to to demand the status of "full-time part-timers," an intermediary between their current status and that of regular teachers, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The professors gave the government a deadline – the first upcoming cabinet session – to approve such assignments.
"Hurry to approve the file to save the Lebanese University before it is too late," Professor Patricia Neemah said in a statement at the sit-in, as reported by the NNA. "It is time for this file to see the light."
On March 5, the professors also staged a sit-in to call for the same demand. The initiative, led by the university's Committee of Contractual Hourly Teachers, accompanied at the time a week-long warning strike, which followed two weeks of interrupted classes and exam marking.
The issue does not seem likely to be resolved any time soon. The advancement of Lebanese University professors has been hampered since 2014 by questions of community balance.