On Saturday (August 16) Education Minister Elias Bou Saab decided to grant certificates to all students who sat for the official exams after the Union Coordination Committee refused to correct the exams since parliament did not pass the series of ranks and salaries.
Bou Saab accused the UCC of inflexibility; however, stressed that he will continue to support the committee’s righteous demands regarding the new wage hike.
The UCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, has been on a continuous sit-in calling on the authorities to pass the pay scale, which stipulates a wage hike. The decision to revive movements came as a result of the failure of the Joint Parliamentary Committees to resolve the dispute on the Value Added Tax in a proposal aimed at securing the funds for the salary scale that was approved by former Prime Minister Najib Mikati's cabinet.
Former PM Mikati's cabinet endorsed the new salary scale for public employees in 2012, ending a long dispute that had triggered several sit-ins and strikes held by the UCC.
Former President Michel Sleiman signed the decree mid-June 2013 and it was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committees for further examination, however the law was never passed to parliament.