UNICEF, WB, FCDO confirm continuation of productivity allowance for public school teachers

Upon the request of Lebanon’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the World Bank, and UNICEF agreed to repurpose funding in support of productivity allowance payments for the current academic year for eligible teachers and school personnel suffering from the consequences of the economic crisis.  

The Teachers’ Productivity Allowance Program will support public school teachers and personnel who attend schools according to the attendance schedule and deliver lessons in first and second school shifts.   

To ensure that only eligible teachers and personnel benefit from these allowances, the World Bank stated in a press release that MEHE established risk mitigation measures that must be put in place.  

The Lebanese education ministry, the Regional Education Offices, and principals must ensure that teachers and personnel information are entered into the Schools Information Management System (SIMS), including the teacher’s general information, teaching days, and hours.  

A Third-Party Monitoring Agency was also commissioned to establish teachers’ attendance and delivery of lessons and work to confirm that these allowances are provided only to eligible teachers and school personnel.  

In early March, the first payment of productivity allowances to teachers for October 2022 was released retroactively from the grant financing.   

“We now urge the Government of Lebanon to priorities the transfer of the allocated advance from the treasury […], so the productivity allowance payments can continue until the end of the school year to ensure that schools remain open and children have access to learning,” said the press release.  

The three organizations also encouraged the Lebanese government to provide efficiency, transparency, and sustainability reforms and ensure learning continuity in the coming academic years.   

“Without increased government funding, increased transparency of public expenditures, and efficient utilization of personnel to teach students, it is likely that the Government of Lebanon will not be able to pay teachers in an adequate and timely manner next school year, risking another year with strikes and school closures,” the organizations added.