AKEL on the Ministry of Education’s announcements and the situation in education

Statement by Christos Christofides, Head of the Education Affairs Bureau of 

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 2 May 2020, Nicosia

A good, mediocre plan or a bad plan may be elaborated to address a difficult and complicated situation. Worst of all would be if there was no plan in place at all. Unfortunately, the Minister of Education’s conference last Wednesday, as well as his previous ones, convey the message that regarding public education there has not and there is still no comprehensive plan on how public education should operate as effectively as possible in these difficult and complicated situations we are going through.

The leadership of the Ministry of Education continues to act by engaging in generalities and ambiguities, without a comprehensive central plan. For almost two months now, modern distance teaching has not been working as well as it should have, and even now there are gaps in what will be taught and what the goals are in the time left. There is no overall, specific plan about whether schools will open and when. A coherent plan is absent on how the health of our pupils and teachers is ensured, while there are still ambiguities with regards the definition of educational goals. During all this time, a plan for distance learning with the participation of specialized scientists and appropriate scientific guidance was absent. More specifically:

1. After almost two months, the Ministry of Education has failed to meet the needs of our children for unhindered access to technology. Thousands of children remain without computers or tablets all this time, and in essence this is time wasted for all those children who did not have the economic possibility to secure what is necessary for distance learning.
2. Special education for the most vulnerable section of the school pupil community, namely children with disabilities, in addition to the commendable efforts of teachers on internet distance teaching, was abandoned without any particular plan and specific instructions. Many children in special schools lack, among other things, health services that are important to their quality of life.
3. Apart from the 3rd Lyceum, nothing specific has still not been announced about what will happen with the exams in the other gymnasium and Lyceum classes, but also about how the year will end. Pupils and their parents are in the dark and anxious.
4. The fact that a comprehensive plan to ensure health has not been presented for the schools that will reopen is increasing concerns.
5. No overall plan has been announced about how schools will reopen. Just one example: for schools to reopen, teachers will obviously need to meet a few days before. When will this happen? How will the preparation for the reopening of schools happen in these very special conditions at the same time with modern teaching? What health measures will be taken?

We expect the Ministry of Education to submit a comprehensive plan as soon as possible that will safeguard effectively the continuity of the educational process for all children, ensure the smooth running of schools where the government has decided or will decide will operate and guarantee the most important thing – the health of school pupils and teachers. AKEL has so far submitted many opinions and proposals. We remain at the Ministry of Education’s disposal for a sincere dialogue to contribute towards achieving the best possible result.