Teachers’ unions voice concern ahead of meeting on state school appointment reforms

Nicosia, Cyprus. Teachers’ unions said on Monday that they would meet Education Minister Athena Michaelidou on Tuesday to discuss planned changes to appointments in state schools, but would attend “with concern” and were “not particularly optimistic” about the talks.

Unions seek comprehensive proposal

In a joint statement, Poed, Oelmek and Oltek said the current situation had been “created by distorted legislation” and warned that the government’s planned reforms would “create even more distortions”.

They called on the government to “submit a fair and comprehensive proposal” and said their planned protest outside the presidential palace on Thursday would go ahead if no agreement was reached.

Poed leader Myria Vasiliou confirmed that all three unions had received an email from Michaelidou notifying them of Tuesday’s meeting. She said the email indicated that the unions would be presented with a “proposal”, rather than a piece of legislation, which she described as a “communication trick”.

Concerns over missed deadline

Oelmek leader Costas Constantinou accused the ministry of “playing games”, saying Michaelidou had agreed on September 11 to submit a proposal to the unions within 10 days.

“When you give a pupil a deadline and you do not keep it yourself, you lose your credibility,” he said. He added that “nobody checks whether things have been done” by the education ministry after promises are made.

Vasiliou said “the goal is a bill which touches on all aspects” and described the delays highlighted by Constantinou as “more than dangerous”.

Appointment numbers and examination concerns

Oltek leader Panayiotis Lysandrou said the planned protest “sends the message that we want a proposal which will satisfy all the demand we have made”.

He added that his union was concerned the government’s current proposal would reduce the number of people appointed as teachers each year.

Later, Oelmek leader Andreas Mavratsas warned against requiring existing teachers to take new theory examinations to obtain permanent posts, describing the idea as “unacceptable”.