Warning messages from the Ministry of Education to hundreds of private schools: Pay or face penalties

A rational person may not believe that a large number of private schools, which charge families exorbitant tuition fees, ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 and more, fail to pay the equivalent of only $10 per student annually to the compensation fund for educational staff members in private schools, according to Mithaq. The honor was signed by the federations and syndicates of educational institutions on the one hand and the Teachers Syndicate on the other hand, under the auspices of the Minister of Education, Judge Abbas Al-Halabi, last January, with the aim of securing an amount of 60 billion Lebanese pounds per month, to finance the salaries of retired professors. Hundreds of private schools did not respect their signatures, and evaded paying 900,000 Lebanese pounds for each student, even though the modest amount is divided into three installments over the course of the academic year. The first installment was due last February, the second installment is due in mid-April as a maximum deadline, and the third installment is due. Mid of next June.

She took money from the people and did not pay it to the fund
Private schools imposed increases in tuition fees during the current academic year, under the pretext of financing the compensation fund. Some of them asked parents to pay $10 for each student, while other schools imposed an increase in tuition fees amounting to 5 million liras, in clear violation of their pledges not to charge Fund burdens for students’ families. Despite receiving more money from the families, a large number of them failed to pay the money owed to the fund. The number of schools that did not pay their fees reached 335 private schools, according to what the director of the Compensation Fund, George Saqr, revealed to “Lebanon 24”. Therefore, the retired professors, numbering 4,000 thousand male and female teachers, were deprived of their six salaries added to their retirement salary, for the month of last March, i.e. During the holidays, their salaries for the current month are threatened with the same fate.
Ministry of Education messages to schools: You have until April 15
This reality prompted the private school teachers’ union to threaten to go on strike. In parallel, the Ministry of Education called for an urgent meeting, brought together those concerned in the educational sector, and took a series of measures, starting with the formation of an emergency cell. It took the initiative to contact directly the unpaid schools and informed them of the payment deadline, which expires on the 15th. This April, which is the date of the second batch. If the schools do not commit to paying the dues due during this period, Minister Al-Halabi will take measures against them, starting with withholding the signature of the principal of the non-compliant school, halting all its transactions, and leading to announcing the names of those schools to public opinion. Stricter measures will be taken at the end of the academic year, so that students are not affected, according to Ministry of Education sources.

First grade schools are among those defaulting on payment
What is noteworthy is that among the schools that are behind in paying, there are big names that rank themselves in the first ranks and charge astronomical tuition fees. On the other hand, 56.75% of the total non-free private schools have made the payments required for the first stage, and a small number of this percentage have paid the amounts for the entire academic year, according to the Director of the Compensation Fund, George Saqr.
Regarding his opinion on the effectiveness of the measures taken by the Ministry of Education, Saqr replied, “Last time, large schools paid their dues when the Minister of Education threatened to withdraw the signatures, and then they did not immediately decline the level of commitment to payments, and today we are counting on the measure taken by the Ministry as a form of pressure, to motivate them to Fulfilling their obligations within the protocol signed by them.”
Regarding the feasibility of sending warning messages at the time of school holiday on the occasion of holidays, Saqr pointed out that schools are on holiday, but the administration is present. “Minister Al-Halabi has formed a cell, and assigned the Director General of the Ministry, Imad Al-Ashqar, to communicate directly with these administrations personally, and to send them warning messages, and we will not Vacation prevents that.”
Source of funding for the Compensation Fund
The compensation fund is fed from two sources, not a third, Saqr points out: from the monthly salary of the educational staff members who are part of the staff at a rate of 6%, and from the schools’ contribution of 6% of the total salaries of the members of the educational staff who are part of the staff. The administration of each school is responsible for deducting the deductions and paying them to the fund administration once every three months, in accordance with the provisions of the Compensation Fund Law. There are no other funding sources.
The schools’ commitment to all dues covers salaries until September
If the 335 schools retract their mistake and pay all their obligations within the deadlines specified in the Code of Honor, “we will be able to pay the six salaries to the retirees for the months of last March and this April,” Saqr points out, “and we will also have the required reserve for the following two months, that is, the next May and June.” If all private schools adhere to the third installment in mid-June at the latest, then we will be able to pay salaries until the month of September, so that on the thirtieth of that month the validity of the protocol signed with the private schools will expire, after which it will be renewed or amended. Either the law on financing The Compensation Fund for the Parliament, and its effects become mandatory, and the protocol is then considered canceled.”
Teachers Union: Compensation is in danger
Commenting on the schools’ performance regarding the compensation fund, Teachers Syndicate sources told “Lebanon 24” that they cannot find solutions except “by re-approving the law to give financial aid worth (650) billion Lebanese pounds to the compensation fund, and organizing the educational body and the budget of private schools, otherwise there will be compensation.” “Professors and their forty-year earnings are in danger.” Union sources pointed out that the compensation fund is on the verge of bankruptcy, as it still receives contributions according to the old manner, that is, at a rate of 6% according to the teacher’s salary, which ranges between 900 thousand liras and 4 million liras, at a time when the minimum wage has become 18 million, and its expenses Operational operations have become worth 45% of its income. Schools that once again receive huge amounts of tuition in dollars and are expected to increase by 50% next year are paying only crumbs to the fund.