Lebanese teacher turns home into classroom as colleagues’ strike rages on

Lebanese teacher turns home into classroom as colleagues’ strike rages on

DUBAI: With many of her colleagues out on strike, a Lebanese teacher has converted her lounge into a classroom so that her students do not miss out on their studies. Lebanon is in the grip of a financial and economic crisis and its public school teachers are seeking a wage increase from the government in a dispute that has been ongoing for the past two months. “I couldn’t sit down any more and watch my seventh and eighth graders miss another school year. What they had already lost during the Covid lockdowns was enough,” Sawsan Mohammad Diab told Arab News from her home in the village of Zawtar El-Gharbiyeh. “As many of them had been contacting me via WhatsApp or email to ask questions about the syllabus, I thought why not bring them over to my residence and answer their questions … and that’s how this humane and ethical initiative started.” More than 20 students had used the makeshift classroom, she said. Diab, who teaches English at her village’s public school, said she did not charge for the extra classes as many families would not be able to afford them. But she hopes they will provide a lesson for the