BEIRUT, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese General Labor Union called upon officials on Wednesday to work on improving public schools to ensure that all citizens have access to decent education, local media reported.

"We want authorities to be fair to public schools teachers when it comes to salaries in addition to equipping these establishments with the needed modern tools while improving the quality of education," said a statement by the labor union published in the National News Agency.

The statement said it cannot be acceptable that 70 percent of Lebanese students chose to go to expensive and private schools in a bid to access good quality of education.

A study by Bankmed, a Lebanese commercial bank, stated that 68 percent of the students in Beirut are enrolled in private schools while about one-fifth are enrolled in public schools.

It is similar in Beirut suburbs and Mount Lebanon region where private schools accommodate 76 percent and 66 percent of total students, respectively, it said.

Meanwhile, another study published in 2017 by Annahar newspaper maintained that some schools have raised their tuition fees from 4 million Lebanese pounds (about 2,645 U.S. dollars) in 2011 to 8 million Lebanese pounds in 2016, adding that Lebanese parents who have children in private schools are financially incapable of paying such tuitions.