Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged on Sunday the Syndicate Coordination Committee to stop taking the future of students hostage. Al-Rahi called on teachers during Sunday's sermon in his summer seat of Diman to assume their responsibilities and cooperate with Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and kick off the correction of official exams on Tuesday.

“The teachers have legitimate demands but have no right to take students as hostages and ban them from deciding their fate,” the patriarch pointed out. He considered that the SCC's decision to boycott the correction of exams “unfair,” noting that it will not have a positive or negative impact on the new wage scale. Bou Saab announced on Friday that he is going forward with issuing passing statements for Grade 12 and Grade 9 school students who have applied for official exams, calling on teachers and the SCC to end their boycott of exams correction. [Link]