Education Minister Says Official Exams 'Will Be Postponed'

Education Minister Hassan Diab revealed on Tuesday that secondary and middle school official exams will most likely be postponed due to the Syndicate Coordination Committee strike.

He said after meeting with Premier Najib Miqati that the postponement will allow schools to complete the academic curriculum.

Diab did not disclose the new date of the official exams, which he said are linked to the current situation in Lebanon, “not just the strike.”

“We are primarily concerned with the students' interests,” he stressed.

“The postponement will definitely take place and I am opposed to the open-ended strike because the students alone are paying its price,” he declared.

“Only the minister can designate the new date of the exams, not the SCC,” Diab stated.

The SCC's open-ended strike has prompted the closure of a number of private and public schools throughout the country to join the protests.

The school year has been plagued by numerous strikes led by the SCC, which has been holding its protests in an attempt to pressure the government to refer to parliament a new wage scale draft law.

On day eight of its open-ended strike, the SCC vowed that public and private school teachers and employees will march to Beirut's Barbir Square on Wednesday to participate in a nationwide demonstration.

“We will not leave the street until the cabinet refers the new wage scale to the parliament,” head of the private school teachers association Nehme Mahfoud said.

SCC protesters will march on Wednesday from Beirut's Barbir Square to the Grand Serail at 11:00 a.m. simultaneously with a cabinet session.

The cabinet has been stalling in finding sources to fund the scale that was approved last year, leading to growing differences with the SCC, which has been accusing it of negligence.