REPORT: UCC prevents teachers tasked with correcting official exams from entering Ministry of Education

A delegation of the Union Coordination Committee met on Tuesday with Minister of Education Elias Bou Saab.

This as sources told LBCI that the teachers tasked with drafting the basis on which the maths, civics, history and English language exams would be corrected kicked off their work.

Minister Bou Saab said that the number of teachers who are willing to correct the official exams is "enough," calling on the UCC to act in a "civilized manner."

However, UCC member Hanna Gharib denied Bou Saab's allegations, saying that the number of teachers willing to correct is not enough.

Earlier, the Union Coordination Committee prevented the teachers willing to cooperate with authorities from entering the headquarters of the Ministry of Education.

UCC member Nehme Mahfoud said that "the education minister's attempt to strike the UCC will certainly fail," reiterating that the UCC  will continue boycotting the correction of the state official exams.

For his part, UCC member Mohammed Qassem told LBCI that he hopes that the Lebanese people "would understand the UCC's  suffering," adding that the Committee has been waiting for the pay scale for the past 3 years.

On Monday, the Union Coordination Committee announced that it will continue its boycott of correcting the official exams until the new pay scale is approved.

However, politicians have been requesting that teachers correct exams in order to avoid granting students passing certificates.

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab called on the committees tasked with correcting the exams to do so on Tuesday.

The Union Coordinating Committee 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.


To watch Maroun Nassif's report, please click on the VIDEO above