The revaluation of private school teachers' pensions published in Official Journal

BEIRUT - Following the law on non-commercial leases, two laws aimed at supporting the retirement fund for private school teachers, passed by Parliament in Dec. 2023 and frozen by former Prime Minister Nagib Mikati, were published on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in the Official Journal at the request of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

The first law allows "the State to fund the private school teachers' retirement fund with up to 650 billion LL." The second law amends the law regulating the teaching staff and the school budget of private schools, dating back to 1956 (the labor code does not apply to teachers).

It's important to note that the retirement funds were impacted by the collapse of the Lebanese pound in 2019*.

In detail, the first law aims to allow the State to refill the empty retirement funds for one year with 650 billion LL until the second law is implemented and the retirement fund becomes self-sustaining. To achieve this, the second law requires private educational institutions to not only increase the contribution percentage to the fund but also to pay these contributions in dollars. For each teacher, the amounts the school must now pay represent 8% of the salary, including dollar-based aids, whereas the educational entities' contribution to the fund was previously 6%, based on the salary in Lebanese pounds.

Another provision of this law mandates schools to present a certificate proving they have properly fulfilled their contribution to the teachers' retirement fund. As for the teachers' share, it will remain in Lebanese pounds but will increase from 6% to 8% of their salary.

5,000 retired teachers

Reacting to the publication of the two laws in the Official Journal, MP Edgar Traboulsi, rapporteur of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, congratulated the retired private school teachers and their union.

"Congratulations to private school teachers after years of injustice and 15 months of struggle, for the publication of these laws passed by Parliament and published by the government, but unjustly opposed by those supposed to educate generations to obey laws, truth, justice, and values," he stated on his X account. The MP also thanked Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who, responding to recommendations from the Council of State, the Parliament, and the teachers' union, allowed these two laws to be published in the Official Journal.

It was on the initiative of the president of the private school teachers' union, Nehmeh Mahfoud, that these laws came into being. During the year 2023, the union leader went to government officials to address the issue of the 5,000 retired private school teachers whose monthly salaries fluctuated between 1.5 million and 3 million LL (between $16.75 and $33.51) since the collapse of the national currency.

While the State had revalued the monthly salaries of public sector retirees, those of the private sector had not changed. After unsuccessfully trying to convince private schools of the need to find a solution, Mahfoud then turned to the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berry. The result was immediate. Amal Movement MP (President Berry's party) Ali Hassan Khalil quickly drafted a law in line with the union's demands. On December 15, 2023, during the plenary session that allowed for the extension (for the first time) of the commander-in-chief of the army, General Joseph Aoun's term, the bill was adopted by all political blocs.

The controversy intensifies

Despite its publication in the Official Journal, the law continues to create controversy. In a statement issued on March 28, the federation of private institutions in Lebanon, headed by the Secretary-General of Catholic Schools, Father Youssef Nasr, requested "the suspension of the law" until meetings between the various concerned parties result in a "viable formula."

The federation expressed "astonishment at the publication of the law while stakeholders had agreed that it needed to be amended to be applicable." The law published on 12/15/2023 "is challenging to implement in its current form," the statement noted, mentioning "the lack of justice in the distribution of charges and a clear mechanism."

"How can we apply this law when we are in the last third of the 2024-2025 academic year, school budgets have been approved, and any changes to them will impose additional burdens on schools, parents, and contract teachers who do not have the right to benefit from the compensation fund?" the federation questioned, also committing to comply with the decree issued by the Council of Ministers on 11/28/2024 stipulating that contributions paid by private schools to the Teachers' Retirement Fund for private school teaching staff would be multiplied by seventeen.

The private school teachers' union swiftly responded. "We will not back down to obtain our rights. Teachers have worked for years under challenging financial conditions without severance pay," it emphasized in a statement, denouncing "the negative reaction" of private schools and "their refusal to fund the retired teachers' compensation fund while collecting tuition fees in dollars."

"Many private schools have even deducted amounts from teachers' salaries without actually paying them into the compensation fund, which constitutes a violation of teachers' rights," the union further denounced.

Recalling "the retroactive effect of the law from the date of its publication," the union specified that the text awaits an official decision from Parliament Vice President MP Elias Bou Saab, in the presence of the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Rima Karamé.

*A dollar today exchanges on the parallel market at 89,500 LL compared to 1,500 LL before the 2019 crisis