Teachers of the Conservatoire in Lebanon. Music suffers
Ghada Ghanem: Depression will attack us if we sit down and do nothing. AFP
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At a branch of the National Higher Conservatory of Music near Beirut, classrooms look desolate and dusty with abandoned musical instrument keys after Lebanon's economic crisis hampered even music education. While the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic forced the closure of schools and institutes around the world for several months, the plight of music teachers contracted with the institute did not end with the curbing of the spread of the pandemic, as it was exacerbated by a crisis with low wages and their inability to provide for their most basic needs and sometimes the cost of transportation.
Tawfik Kerbage, who has been studying at the institute since the late eighties and has been giving online classes for months, said: "You don't feel comfortable when you're 65 and still live at the expense of your family. It's funny."
"I have family support and I can still move forward, but I don't think everyone gets that."
Paid to make ends meet and ensure a decent standard of living, the teacher found himself in the midst of a collapse that the World Bank ranked among the worst in the world, earning nearly $70.
Although what he earns is not enough to pay the generator bill, with the electricity provided by the state institution cut off for long hours, this has not prevented him from continuing to teach his students online, defying the country's poor telecommunications service.
He explains that for him music education is not a job but "something you do because you love it and you can't live without it," while a number of his colleagues have resigned.
The National Higher Conservatory of Music or Conservatoire, an official institution, is a prestigious cultural edifice for music education in the country. It attracts thousands of students in 17 branches spread across several regions.
In an effort to support music teachers and their ability to continue, teachers and students began organizing musical evenings that provide a platform for musicians and highlight the dire reality.
"I am here today to stand with my colleagues who are unhappy with the way we are treated," said soprano initiative organizer Ghada Ghanem on the sidelines of a concert, speaking of colleagues who have moved their places of residence or sold their cars to be able to withstand the deteriorating living situation.
The proceeds from the concerts are invested in organizing additional similar concerts or distributed to participants, according to Ghanem, who was a student at the Conservatoire during the civil war years.
Before participating in the second concert titled "We Want to Strayed", she added: "Let's solve our problems with our talents" because "depression will attack us if we sit down and do nothing."