Fate of school exams up in the air after Parliament failure

BEIRUT: Uncertainty hovered over the fate of official school exams after Parliament again Tuesday failed to meet to vote on a controversial wage hike bill that has been a key demand for holding the tests.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the session to June 19 over lack of quorum. Only 54 MPs showed up while the required quorum is 65.

Berri urged Education Minister Elias Bou Saab to postpone the official exams for Grade 9 and Grade 12 students.

“Exams can’t be held in this climate,” Berri told Bou Saab.

Bou Saab has already postponed Brevet exams from June 7 to June 12 and Baccalaureate exams from June 12 to June 16 and June 22 to June 27.

Before the failed legislative session, lawmakers held a flurry of meetings to resolve the salary increase deadlock, as the Union Coordination Committee stepped up pressure by taking protest into the Education Ministry, days before official exams are due.

The UCC, the umbrella group for civil servants and public and private school teachers, held a sit-in outside the Education Ministry in Beirut ahead of a legislative session set for 10:30 a.m., demanding a salary increase.

Soon after the sit-in kicked off at 9 a.m., protesters moved into the Education Ministry headquarters in Beirut's UNESCO neighborhood, in a bid to block access for teachers hoping to sign contracts to monitor and correct official exams.

“I allowed the UCC to hold the sit-in inside the Education Ministry,” Bou Saab told reporters from Parliament, before meeting with Berri and Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil.

Bou Saab has announced a backup plan for holding official exams whereby he would hire contract teachers to replace the full-time staff. But the UCC pledged not to allow the tests to be conducted unless the wage hike was endorsed first.

After the session was postponed, UCC head Hanna Gharib pledged to remain in the ministry until the issue was resolved.

The two-day strike by the UCC has disrupted the operations of ministries, public departments and institutions as well as municipalities across Lebanon. Public schools throughout the country were also closed by the strike.