The spokesperson for the contract professors at the Lebanese University, Mohammad Shukr, confirms in a statement to that the cabinet postponed consideration of the تثبيت (regularization/making permanent) issue during its last meeting, and announced that it would resume discussing it at the meeting next Thursday, December 4th.
Shukr explains that the council requested the Minister of Education, Rima Karami, to provide it with a series of detailed information, including figures and documents related to the numbers of ثابتين (regularized/permanent) professors, employees who have reached retirement age, as well as statistics on the number of students enrolled this year at the Lebanese University.
Shukr indicates that informed sources in the Minister’s circle confirmed Karami’s readiness to provide all the required data during Thursday’s meeting, so that the documents are available to all ministers, in the presence of the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, and the Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam.
Shukr denies any direct contact with the Minister to explain the reasons why the council did not make a decision at the last meeting regarding the number of those who will be تثبيتهم (regularized/made permanent), but he conveys, based on information from the Minister’s circle, that the cabinet needed to review the required data before making any decision, especially since the issue has financial implications that require complete clarity about the state’s capabilities and potential.
Shukr raises fundamental questions that the council is expected to answer on Thursday: Does the general budget allow for the تثبيت (regularization/making permanent) of approximately 1300 professors at once? Or could the trend be towards dividing the process into three batches? He affirms that the decision is now in the hands of the cabinet alone.
Shukr expresses the professors’ hope that the council will issue its awaited decision on Thursday, “in the manner it deems appropriate,” provided that it does not disappoint what he described as the “great hope” that the contractors attach to this crucial meeting.
