The Minister of Education in the caretaker government, Abbas al-Halabi, considered that “the strike is a legitimate right, but the open strike of teachers is absurd. We did not steal, and there is a problem with the state’s finances, which is in a state of bankruptcy. We are trying to provide what is possible to alleviate the suffering of teachers and to reach an academic year in which public schools will continue.”
Al-Halabi said in an interview with MTV: There was a legal problem with the contractors, and it was resolved in the Council of Ministers, and they were given 5 liters of petrol, and this is the first time that the contractor is given a transportation allowance.
He added, “We have 48 schools currently under renovation, according to a loan from the World Bank amounting to 71 million dollars, and we still have 35 million dollars in the ministry as a free balance, and it is disbursed under the supervision of the World Bank, external auditors, the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Lebanon.”
He explained that “dollarization of teachers’ salaries is a decision taken by the state and the government, not the Ministry of Education, and I will spare no effort to help teachers in the hospital file.” “.
Al-Halabi stressed that “it is not permissible to continue the objection and strike without a horizon, and we are trying to complete our work in the ministry with live meat, and it stopped enrollment in private schools to prevent all students from escaping from formal education because of the continuation of the strikes.”
