BEIRUT: Many students at the Lebanese University are expressing little sympathy for an ongoing strike being held by the League of Lebanese University Professors, even as the league’s head promises to compensate students for any delay in their studies.

The league announced the two-week “warning” strike starting Sept. 17 to protest the Cabinet’s delay in passing a draft law to raise professors’ salaries.

While the strike has not yet disrupted the classes, which usually begin in October, a second round of examinations held for students who initially failed their courses was postponed due to the strike, and students are worrying that the entire academic year could be in jeopardy.

As they scrambled to register for the new semester Monday, students at the Faculty of Sciences at LU’s main campus in Hadath, Branch I, took a moment to vent their frustration with the ongoing strike.

Amanda and Fatima, who are both majoring in biochemistry and gave only their first names, said that they were unable to register for courses this fall because they have yet to sit for the second round of examinations.

“This strike will yield no results, they do it every year. They [professors] should teach in line with their conscience, regardless of how much they are being paid,” said Amanda. “They chose this career.”

“Is it our fault? What do we have to do with [a strike]?” Fatima interjected.

Amanda argued that professors could have postponed their strike until students sitting for the second round of examinations had completed their tests and registered for courses.

Rana Hajj, a biology student, also said she was against the strike.

“We will be late in our studies compared to other universities,” she said, sitting on a bench inside the faculty’s building, while sitting in the shade away from the midday sunlight.

“Students end up being the scapegoats; I am in favor of the students’ interests,” she said, noting that teachers could have resorted to other means to pressure the government.

“The strike harms students and it might yield no results,” Hajj added.

Other students said they support the demands of professors since they would benefit from any gains made if they become professors, but feared what would become of their studies if the strike drags on.

“We back the demands of professors because one day we will become like them [professors], but we don’t want it [the strike] to last for too long because it will harm us,” said a biology student, who declined to give his name.

Meanwhile, Hussein Farhat, who was smoking narguileh in a classroom at the Faculty of Law at the same campus, broached the issue from both sides.

“Look, we are with and against the strike at the same time,” he explained. “We support it because it is for the sake of professors who are ‘the life’ of the university and against it because it affects students,” he said.

“Students prepare for the second round of examinations but do not know when to sit for the exam. They [seem confused], with many saying, ‘is it today, tomorrow or next week?’” he said.

Farhat added that students will be rushed during the fall semester if the strike postpones its start.

Similar concerns were shared by students in the Faculty of Sciences, Branch II, in Fanar.

Tanya, who is majoring in mathematics, voiced fears that a long strike would force students to finish their year next summer.

“Let them strike now rather than disrupting our studies in the middle of the semester,” her friend interjected.

But Joe Abi Warde, who will start his graduate studies in mathematics this year, said he was ready to endure a strike “for the whole year,” if it were guaranteed to yield results.

“We have no problem if the strike goes on, as long as it leads to results. In the end, all of us will become professors at the Lebanese University or [teachers] in public schools,” he added.

But Abi Warde admitted that, as he had been scheduled to sit for the second round of examinations, the strike was also affecting him now.

For his part, Charbel Kfoury, the head of the league, promised to compensate the students for any delay, telling The Daily Star: “This has always been the case … but the issue requires a bit of sacrifice.”

“We have a responsibility to ensure that students are getting educated, [but what can a professor do] if his salary is finished during the first or the second week of the month? … The professor needs to preserve his dignity,” he said.

Kfoury said that salaries of LU professors and judges have always been treated on equal footing, which is no longer the case since Parliament passed a draft law to raise judges’ salaries earlier in the year.

Kfoury argued that while students might face inconveniences because of the strike, they would benefit in the long-run.

“A strike, as a democratic method, was the only means by which Lebanese University [professors] have achieved their demands,” he said.

“This university has been abandoned; it has no [new] council since 2004, the term of its president has expired, its budget barely increases one percent if ever and it receives no new equipment at all,” he added.

Kfoury said that Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Education Minister Hassan Diab have promised to discuss the professors’ demands in the upcoming Cabinet session on Oct. 5, stressing that the strike would continue until the league’s demands are met.