Minister calls for dialogue ahead of Psem classroom walkout
Education Minister Athena Michaelidou urged dialogue before a Psem classroom walkout over air conditioning, exams and school uniform rules.
Nicosia, Cyprus. Education Minister Athena Michaelidou on Tuesday called for dialogue ahead of a classroom walkout planned by the national students’ coordinating committee, Psem, for Wednesday.
The protest will coincide with a meeting of the House education committee and focuses on unresolved concerns including delayed air-conditioning installations and heavy exam workloads.
Students’ concerns
Psem said issues it had previously raised had not been addressed by the education ministry. It cited delays in equipping schools with air conditioning and the pressure created by exam workloads as reasons for the walkout.
The organisation also said previous comments by President Nikos Christodoulides appeared to move the deadline for completing air-conditioning installations to the end of the government’s current term, by 2028.
Ministry response
Michaelidou said the concerns raised by Psem were priorities already recognised by the government and on which it was working.
She said the ministry had begun implementing “a comprehensive change” to curriculum content and referred to €132 million in announced infrastructure projects for school buildings.
On air conditioning, the minister said all schools in Cyprus would eventually be equipped, with a specific timeframe for installation and operation, although she did not repeat the timeframe.
Separate education ministry figures showed significant differences among districts. Famagusta had fully equipped 65 per cent of primary schools, compared with 24 per cent in Nicosia and 16 per cent in Paphos.
School uniform rules
Michaelidou said the issue of school uniforms had “been settled for months,” following circulars allowing schools to relax dress codes during periods of high temperatures.
She said the measure was subject to consultation with school management and parents’ associations and was intended to apply only as an exception.
Psem said, however, that some schools continued to restrict students from wearing shorts despite the circulars.
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