BEIRUT — The Contractual Teachers’ League in Lebanese Primary Public Schools (CTLP) announced a warning strike in public schools from Wednesday morning until Sunday evening, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA). Later, the League of Professors at the Lebanese University announced that it would observe a strike in the university offices on Thursday, March 20 and Friday, March 21.

According to a statement released by CTLP, the call for the strike came in response to teachers being deprived of their summer perseverance and productivity allowances. Moreover, teachers are also demanding a contracted hourly wage, which currently amounts to $8 to become $13 "as it was before." 

The committee said that the strike would be wider on Thursday because some schools did not receive the decision to strike on Tuesday night.

Before the strike, the CTLP had prepared a survey that found that 99.7 percent of the concerned teachers were dissatisfied with the cancellation of the productivity allowance in the summer semester, while 97.4 percent of teachers were dissatisfied with the contracted hourly wage of $8.

According to the statement published by CTLP's head Nisrine Shahin, the strike is aimed at "giving way for negotiations with the Ministry of Education and the government to restore the rights of contracted colleagues."

Depending on the results obtained, the strike could be extended, she added. 

Earlier this month, the Minister of Education Rima Karami announced an increase in hourly wage for public contractual teachers to L.L. 366,000 (around $4) for primary and secondary levels and L.L. 660,000 (around $7.3) for high school. She also announced that the productivity bonus would be incorporated into public teachers’ salaries. 

On Wednesday evening, the League of Professors of the Lebanese University announced that it would observe a strike in the university offices on Thursday, March 20 and Friday, March 21. In particular, it is demanding that "payment of this month's allowance be made on time".

This action is a first warning," adds the League. It is the result of ongoing attempts to meet the Minister of Education via her office and her advisors, who promised to contact us, then disappeared and failed to respond to our calls."

Lebanon’s education system, both public and private, has been in crisis since the Lebanese lira began depreciating in 2019. The situation worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic, the August 2020 Beirut port explosion and a wave of teacher resignations and strikes as salaries lost value. The war between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on Oct. 8, 2023, further crippled the sector, destroying many schools in southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Bekaa.