Stop the experimentations at the expense of children

Statement by Christos Christofides, Head of Education Policy of the C.C. of AKEL and MP

The Minister of Education is creating a new crisis

15 April 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

At the same time as the quarterly exams issue is still pending, which is a real cancer for Cypriot education, but also agony for thousands of pupils, parents and teachers, the Ministry of Education has come up with new arbitrary and vague proposals without any scientific backing to experiment yet again with new changes at the expense of school pupils. Without any prior dialogue with the educational stakeholders, namely the Secondary School Teachers trade union OELMEK, school pupils and parents and without any consultation with the political forces. In recent years the institutionalised Education Council, which is responsible for promoting a dialogue between educational stakeholders and political forces, has not been functioning.

This behaviour of the Ministry of Education is once again provoking significant reactions among teachers, poisoning the situation for the period ahead. We fear that instead of providing solutions to the very serious existing issues such as the fiasco with the four-month exams system, many more fiascos will be created.

We once again call on the Education Ministry to realise that it is dealing with a very serious portfolio and must engage in a dialogue, ask for scientific support and at long last stop its experimentations to the detriment of our children.