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Teenager starts hunger strike in bid for free education
Nour Merheb vows to continue daily sit-ins outside public schools until government guarantees right to learn
Nada Raad
Daily Star staff
More than 10 days have passed since a teenager here started a peaceful sit-in to demand his right to a free education in public schools. Nour Merheb, 18, is still jumping from one place to another in hope of attracting official attention, but still in vain.
Wearing the same clothes since last Monday, when The Daily Star visited him outside his school in Jal al-Dib, Merheb announced he has been on a hunger strike for two days.
He spends his days outside public schools lying in the street and capturing the attraction of passersby, who invariably support his cause. Surrounded by slogans he wrote demanding his rights, Merheb is not embarrassed to continue his struggle for free education, when he has to pay around LL450,000 to enter a public school.
On Friday, and after he had decided to stage a sit-in in front of every public school in the capital and its surroundings for 24 hours each, Merheb is now at UNESCO in Beirut. He told The Daily Star that he hopes to meet Education Minister Samir Jisr.
“I was told that Jisr does not come to his ministry on Friday,” Merheb said. But, according to some employees at UNESCO, who were supporting Merheb’s demands, Jisr had come to the ministry on Friday but did not want to meet him. “I think he was inside but did not care to meet citizens struggling for education,” Merheb continued.
Merheb is accompanied by around 10 other students who face the same problem. They will continue their protest if their demands are not met, particularly as schools open next Wednesday.
While standing outside UNESCO, Merheb’s mother, Samia, came to visit her son and brought some food. Merheb took the food back to the car, as he refused to eat.
“I am proud of my son and I support his cause,” Samia told The Daily Star. She said, with tears streaming from her eyes, that she only earns LL400,000 a month and could not pay her son’s tuition fees. Around 2,400 people signed a petition that demanded the right to a free education to support Merheb’s cause, and that of many citizens here who suffer from the same predicament.
Adel Sukkar, a taxi driver, also came to support Merheb. Sukkar, 42, said that he has decided to go on a hunger strike himself to support the youths.
“Their case reflects Lebanon’s current situation,” he said, adding that it is a shame when residents are transformed into “beggars” to demand their right to an education.
Last week, Merheb’s case caught the attention of some politicians who supported the student’s demands. But, until now, no definite action has been taken by any official as thousands of parents have yet to register their children in schools.
Merheb says that in the meantime he will continue his sit-in and hunger strike, hoping that citizens’ basic demands may some day be met.
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