Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Monday stressed, “We do not have a magic wand to tackle educational problems all at once, but we certainly have the will and determination to try, and we look forward to the educational body’s -including professors and administrators- understanding of the government’s situation and the limited capabilities, and to their patience and that of the students’ families, especially that the stifling economic crisis we are currently enduring has been accompanied by the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, which further deepened the crisis in the educational sector.”

He said, “Professors and teachers are required to cooperate with us to surpass this difficult stage with minimal damage and not to throw demands at one time in the face of the government, students and families, especially since the situation of the public treasury cannot tolerate any spending other than the most pressing issues.”

Mikati added, “On the matter of private education, cooperation is necessary among school administrations, teachers and parents to find solutions acceptable to all and not to leave students ‘hostage to differences’ that leave serious repercussions on the educational sector as a whole.”

Premier Mikati was speaking at the opening of the “National Consultative Gathering to Recover and the Education and Higher Education Sector in Lebanon”, which was organized by the Ministry of Education today at the Grand Serail.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Education and Higher Education, Acting Minister of Information Judge Abbas El-Halabi, Chair of the Education Parliamentary Committee MP Bahia Hariri, Minister of Tourism, Walid Nassar, Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. George Kallas, French Ambassador to Lebanon, Anne Grillo, Norwegian Ambassador to Lebanon Martin Yttervik, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Lebanon Hans Peter van der Woude, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Lebanon Najat Rushdie, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, Ayaki Ito, Representative of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) office in Lebanon. Abdallah Alwardat, World Health Organization Representative in Lebanon, Iman Al-Shanqiti, Director of UNESCO Beirut Costanza Farina, Head of the Doctors’ Syndicate, Professor Sharaf Abu Sharaf, and scores of concerned educational dignitaries and officials.