Statement by Christos Christofides, Head of AKEL’s Education Affairs Bureau, on the decision of the Education Ministry to appeal the Administrative Court’s decision on the illegal “purchase of services in education”
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 29th October 2020, Nicosia
The mockery of the thousands of teachers working in the afternoon programs of the Ministry of Education by the Anastasiades-DISY government, really has no limits.
The government ruling forces, in 2013, took a political decision to turn thousands of working teachers into “self-employed”, depriving them of approximately 35% of their income and any employment rights.
On 28th March 2018, with its decision, the Council of Ministers “pledged” to respect the decision taken by the Administrative Court, which recently vindicated the teachers. Today yet another government “pledge” has been broken.
Before every election over the last eight years, the ruling DISY party and the government bring up the issue and make empty promises that have now become a joke.
The only way forward is to respect the decision of the Administrative Court. The government’s decision to appeal this decision simply exacerbates the problem and uncertainty.
AKEL will continue to be on the side of the thousands of teachers (in All-Day schools, the State Educational Institutes (KIE), Post-Secondary Institutes of Vocational Education and Training (MIEEK), in the Music and Sports Lyceums) as it has been doing for eight years. As a measure to exercise pressure, AKEL will request the re-registration of the issue for discussion in the Education Committee of the House of Representatives.
