Teacher Shortages Send Student Homes After Just Two Periods

Students in Lebanon’s public schools are losing valuable learning time for the fourth consecutive week, as shorter school days deprive them of essential lessons and subjects. In some schools, classes end at 10:30 a.m., with students receiving just two periods instead of six or seven amid severe teacher shortages.

3,500 Teachers Kept Out of Classrooms

Education Minister Rima Karami has put the placement of around 3,500 contract and auxiliary teachers in public schools on hold, pending a study to determine staffing needs—even as the school year enters its fourth week.

Two Periods Instead of Seven

Many students leave school at 10 or 10:30 a.m., with the school day reduced to just two periods in some cases. Teacher shortages have also left essential subjects off their timetables.

960 Students, 18 Teachers Short

At Shakib Arslan Intermediate School in Beirut, students leave at 10:30 a.m. because of teacher shortages. It is one of 36 schools affected in the capital and around 1,000 across Lebanon, according to Nisrine Chahine, head of the Contract Teachers’ Association.

Repeated Assessments Leave Education on Hold

Chahine says regional education offices have repeatedly submitted data on schools’ staffing needs, yet the ministry has assigned a separate team to collect the information again. The study, she argues, could have been completed over the summer to ensure teachers were in place before classes began.

Students Await Their Teachers’ Return

The Contract Teachers’ Association is calling for teachers to return to understaffed schools and for staffing adjustments at schools with a surplus, to restore full school days and safeguard the academic year.