Following the adoption of Law No. 46 of August 21, 2017 that stipulates an increase in minimum wages and cost of living allowance for employees and retirees including public and private school teachers, the majority of private schools refused to increase teachers’ salaries as they will find themselves forced to increase the fees, which may lead to a decline in the number of students whose parents cannot afford the increase and, in turn, threaten the continuity of these schools and bring about their closure in the coming years.  

The rise in tuition fees is not yet determined but may range between 10% and 25% depending on each school. It may be higher than the wage increase, allowing some schools, namely the reputable ones, to increase their profits under the pretext of raising their staff salaries.

            Number of teachers

During the school year 2015-2016, the teachers numbered 95,256. They were distributed as follows:

5. 42,686 teachers in public schools:

• Full-timers: 22,949
• Part-timers: 18,851
• Volunteers: 886 (they teach religion)

5. 46,840 teachers in private schools:

• Full-timers: 28,041
• Part-timers: 18,336
• Volunteers: 663

5. 7,329 teachers in free private schools:

• Full-timers: 5,580
• Part-timers: 1,609
• Volunteers: 140

The increase

The pay rise covered full-time teachers in both private and public schools, as well as part-time teachers who benefit from a percentage of full-timers pay increase calculated on the number of teaching hours.  

While civil servants received three exceptional grades, full-time teachers in secondary public schools, third and fourth category teachers in the Directorate General of Vocational and Technical Education (DGVTE), as well as primary and middle teachers received six exceptional grades.

The pay rise received by teachers varied according to grades as illustrated in the following table (The teachers receive a grade each two years of service. They also receive exceptional grades by virtue of minimum wage increase laws as in the current law).

The rise is LBP 310,000 for the first grade teachers and LBP 1.538 million for the last grade teachers. In general, the rate of increase ranged between 61% and 80%.

Source: Official Gazette-Issue no. 37-August 21, 2017

Pay increase examples

• The tenth-grade teachers had a basic salary of LBP 913,000. They received six grades and became grade-16 teachers with a salary of LBP 1.575 million, i.e. an increase of LBP 662,000 (72.5%).
• The twenty fifth-grade teachers had a basic salary of LBP 1.563 million. They received six grades and became grade-31 teachers with a salary of LBP 2.625 million, i.e. an increase of LBP 1.062 million (68%).

Catholic Schools Secretary General Father Boutros Azar stated that he is not going to implement the law’s provisions, adding that he is conducting negotiations with the Minister of Education and Higher Education Marwan Hamadeh. This raises some fundamental questions such as:

1. How does a citizen, whoever he/she is, dare to publicly state that he is not going to implement the law?
2. Why do schools that have not raised teachers’ salaries and wages since 1997-1998 compel reasons to raise fees due to the new law, although they have been consistently raising tuition by 3%-10% since 1997?
3. Why does the government treat private schools as non-profit organizations while they are clearly profit-making?
4. Why does the government not scrutinize the schools’ budgets to ensure that the percentage of pay increase (if it is implemented) warrant a rise in tuitions?