New Academic Year in a crisis-struck Lebanon

This fall, the academic year in Lebanon is gripped by the same chaos that has overwhelmed everything else in the country in its financial and economic meltdown.

Thousands of teachers are on strike, demanding salary adjustments to cope with hyperinflation and the currency’s free-fall. A month’s pay is now barely enough to fill a vehicle’s gas tank twice.

The start of school has been postponed several times as the cash-strapped government negotiates with the teachers’ union for an adjustment package estimated at about $500 million.

Adding to the woes, last year’s Beirut port explosion, which devastated the capital, damaged more than 180 educational facilities.

Amid the hardships, parents are resolutely searching for ways to keep their children in schools.