We do not see Abdul Meneem Youssef or Naji Andraous take the stage at the Ministry of Telecommunications nor do we see Abdul Hafez Qoubeissi at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport; at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Fadi Yarak is thrown into the shadows and so are Alain Biffani at the Ministry of Finance and Wafiq Rouheimi at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Fadi Qoumeir and Ghassan Baidoun spend little if any time in the limelight at the Ministry of Energy and Water and the case is no different for Walid Ammar at the Ministry of Public Health; Ziad Nassar receives no publicity as Chairman of the Board at the Railway and Public Transportation Authority and if there were a Director-General at the Ministry of Social Affairs, chances are he, also,  would have been cast into oblivion.  
Focus on Directors-General accentuates several issues: it reminds us that the Director-General is a symbol and a continuity of the administration. It also alerts Directors-General to their responsibilities and helps ministers realize that the administrative rules and regulations are not tailored to fit their narrow and short-term interests. 
In the same vein, it would be useful to reminisce on the “new perspective of education” proposed by the late Director-General at the Education Ministry* and the president of the Civil Service Board, Joseph Zaarour. 
“This new perspective stems from two basic premises:
- The first is to work towards implanting in the Lebanese land the life, thought and fate of the Lebanese student.
- The second is to provide him with the opportunity of having an efficient presence in the Lebanese society. 
The unity of the nation depends on the quality of its level of education and therefore on its teaching staff. For that reason, officials must provide modern teacher training and teachers must be prepared to cope with a new educational message.”
Zaarour proceeded to say that democratic schooling should encompass equal opportunities of education for all citizens. In order for every citizen to achieve serenity and feel indispensable to his/her community, we ought to initiate comprehensive education planning at all levels. “It is imperative, rather purely natural, to mold Lebanese children to their mother tongue, Arabic,” Zaarour added, although he was a Francophone and a staunch advocate of his Lebanese identity.
Zaarour’s words, which were given in a lecture in 1972 and published in An-Nadwa, seem just as relevant today. Yet, they appear to be lacking from the current rhetoric exchanged between the Minister of Education and the Union Coordination Committee. 
Speaking of education, it is worth mentioning that the pass rates in the Lebanese Baccalaureate have been vacillating between 70% and 75% in recent years with the majority of students obtaining low pass grades.  Therefore, the disputed pass certificates issued by the Minister of Education will serve only the remaining 20% to 25% baccalaureate students (roughly 9000) in reaching university level. Thus, the controversy is not over whether to give or challenge pass certificates nor is it over the eligibility of teachers to pay hikes but rather over the state of education at large and the seemingly bleak fate of public schooling in Lebanon.