October 19, 2026
The formal education sector in Lebanon is moving towards restoring its order starting Monday morning, following a decision issued by the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Rima Karami, directing school administrations to return teachers to teaching where needed. This step puts an end to a crisis that has led to the disruption of a number of schools and classes since the start of the current academic year.
In statements to the “Lebanon Debate” website, the President of the Association of Contracted Teachers in Public Basic Education, Dr. Nisreen Shaheen, explained that this decision was the result of the intensive movements and communications led by the Association in cooperation with the parent committees in public schools. She pointed out that the professors hired and on the funds, who number about 3,500 professors, represent a basic pillar for completing teaching hours and ensuring the continuity of the educational process.
Shaheen stated that the minister asked school principals to determine the extent of the shortage and to return teachers according to actual needs, estimating that the need would require the return of the vast majority of these teachers, at a rate that may exceed 80%. On the other hand, she expressed reproach for not announcing the results of the needs study that was conducted to determine the requirements of public schools, considering that the minister’s step came to “break the problem” that caused damage to public education. She stressed, saying: “They always realized that they had ruined public education, but they issued a decision to restore teachers where there is a shortage. What is important is that schools are completed and regular education returns.”
Shaheen stressed that the return of teachers to their schools represents a positive step that will culminate in the cessation of protest movements with the resumption of teaching on Monday morning. She stressed the need for this return to take place in accordance with sound administrative principles, successively by granting staff professors their teaching quorum, then contract professors, leading to completing the required hours through the assistance of hired professors and funds in areas of actual shortage.
Shaheen thanked all parties that took action in defense of public education, expressing her blame for officials who did not take any position throughout the crisis, and saluted the teachers and parent committees that played a pivotal role in cooperation with the association in organizing movements and sit-ins.
In the same context, the president of the association stressed that resuming school hours does not mean ending the crisis completely, stressing the need to announce the results of the needs study, address the repercussions left by the suspension of schools for an entire month, and hold those responsible accountable for the decisions that led to a state of chaos in the official sector. In this context, she revealed that, on Friday, she filed an official complaint before the Central Inspection to demand that an investigation be opened into those responsible for disrupting schools, noting that she had received promises to begin an investigation into it.
It is noteworthy that the Association of Contracted Teachers had previously issued a statement in which it threatened to escalate and organize protest movements in cooperation with the parent committees in the event that a decision was not issued to guarantee the return of teachers according to actual needs by Sunday evening. This came after Shaheen received assurances through intermediaries that UNICEF did not request to stop funding the wages of hired professors and did not recommend abandoning them.
