Salam pays tribute to teachers, announces plans to 'improve their situation'

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam paid tribute to teachers on Monday, on the occasion of Teachers' Day, calling for improvements to their situation and the preservation of their dignity in a country facing an acute economic crisis since 2019. "Today, I extend my appreciation and gratitude to all teachers on their day. They are the beacon for our children. All hope rests on them to rebuild the values that have been destroyed in our society," he emphasized on his X account. "We must therefore improve their situation and preserve their dignity. Thank you to everyone who taught me a trade," he added.

Since the collapse of the Lebanese lira in 2019, teachers' salaries have lost most of their value, leading to a high number of defections among their members. No action has been taken by the political class to revise the teachers' salary scale, which is the same for those in both private and public sectors.

In general, salaries have remained the same in Lebanese liras, but in the public sector, a monthly dollar payment is granted to tenured teachers, and to a lesser extent to contract teachers. Private schools have had no choice but to dollarize part of the salaries, but this measure is applied by institutions that have the means and have managed to set tuition fees in foreign currencies.