The Lebanese revolution has sparked a fire under many institutions specifically those that are dealing with dollars instead of Lebanese pounds. The recent student uprising has started another fire, which includes the high tuition of private universities in Lebanon, and the payment in US dollars.
Many university fees had to be paid in dollars as per university policy. Other universities changed their fees into the dollar when the dollar exchange rate started rising. The dollar in the black market today is 1800 LBP.
The revolution is making ripples, some small and some larger and it is leading to a change. This change was first seen when the University of Saint-Joseph (USJ) has officially stepped up a few days ago to implement one of the changes the Lebanese students are demanding. USJ declared its support to the Lebanese Pound and the Lebanese revolution, and its tuition will be exclusively in LBP, effective November 13th.
On November 6, 2019, the student body of Antonine University protested in their university campus demanding their tuition’s installments to be in Lebanese pounds. The Antonine University soon declared to meet the demands of its students as well. Up to today, only Antonine University has followed the lead.
These wins are important to the students to keep the fire of the revolution burning. The instability of the Lebanese Pound is unsettling to all, young and old. The repercussions of the instability of Lebanon’s currency will lead to an extreme depreciation of its value and, subsequently, to an increase in the poverty rate and decrease in wages.
There is an urgent need for the caretaker government to act as a pressure on institutions to prevent the financial crisis on the horizon.
However, as we have been witnessing these days, it is the people of Lebanon who have stepped up to do what the authorities have been failing to assume; then and now. The Lebanese people are the power now doing the essential pressures to save their country.
This revolution will not cease until their demands get accomplished. The student protest within the revolution does not intend to stop until their educational benefits are equal to the pay.
All private Lebanese universities should take into consideration the catastrophic depreciation of our local currency, and change their payment policies the soonest.
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