Lebanon suspends afternoon classes for Syrian refugees in public schools

On Tuesday, the Caretaker Minister of Education Abbas al-Halabi decided to suspend afternoon classes for Syrian refugee students in Lebanon's public schools after teachers had ended morning classes for Lebanese students in protest to demand better wages.  

In response to a question about the teachers' suspension of teaching, al-Halabi said that "we have already announced a position that knowledge must be provided to Lebanese students, and if Lebanese students do not learn for one reason or another, we cannot accept the education of non-Lebanese […] we cannot continue in the afternoon, as education should be for everyone and its priority for Lebanese students."  

On Wednesday, public school teachers staged a sit-in in front of the Ministry of Education in Beirut to demand higher salaries and better rights while rejecting the Ministry's five dollars aid, considering it "an insult to the role of teachers in Lebanon."   

They held banners denouncing the decision of the Caretaker Minister of Education amid shouts of anger from the professors from all regions of Lebanon.