October 25, 2026
Educational counselors working in the evening shift are escalating their protest movements against the backdrop of the exclusion of 400 Lebanese counselors from their jobs “without prior warning,” in a move that threatens to worsen the crisis with the start of the school year for evening education.
In this context, the Educational Steering Committee announced, in a statement, the organization of a massive sit-in in front of the offices of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the Adliya district of Beirut, on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at exactly ten thirty in the morning.
This move comes as a continuation of the protest held by educational guidance teachers in front of the Ministry of Education on October 20, which coincided with a meeting held between the Minister of Education, Rima Karami, and officials from UNICEF in Lebanon, coinciding with the passage of a full week since the start of evening education without reaching any solution that would end the tragedy of the mentors who were left without work.
The committee explained that the crisis is witnessing an exchange of accusations and responsibilities between the Ministry of Education and UNICEF regarding securing the necessary funding, noting that its reviews confirm that the cost of financing educational guidance does not exceed only 3 to 4 percent of the total evening education budget.
The committee strongly criticized the provision of this limited percentage at the expense of children’s basic rights to psychological, behavioral and social support, monitoring the prevention of violence in schools, and ensuring a healthy and safe educational environment, pointing out that these tasks constitute the core of the work of the educational supervisor, at a time when millions of dollars are spent on projects in which there is no transparency and whose details lack clarity.
At the conclusion of its statement, the Educational Steering Committee appealed to the President of the Republic, Joseph Aoun, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nabih Berri, the Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, and the Minister of Education, Rima Karami, in addition to donor countries and UNICEF, to intervene immediately to follow up on the issue and return the teachers to their work. It also affirmed its full commitment to the rights of its members, appreciating the role of the media in keeping up with its movements, and concluded by saying: “No right is lost, there are demands behind it.”
This escalation continues in light of the continued work of the evening education system, amid continuing disputes between the concerned parties regarding the funding entity and the fate of the mentors charged with following up and protecting students within the educational environment.
