By Athena Karsera
THE LATE age at which secondary school teachers are appointed to their posts remains a chronic problem in the Cyprus education system, a report said yesterday.
The criticism came in the 1988 annual report of the Education Service’s Committee.
Speaking at the presentation of the report, Committee president Christos Theofilides said the Committee believed the fact that middle-aged teachers were being appointed to teaching positions for the first time could have serious consequences on pupils.
“We think yes (there would be consequences), if the person was not the best for the job, because he or she had not spent much time in the service.”
He added that Cyprus was a worldwide exception in this respect, and that sometimes even a short interview with prospective teachers showed they totally were out of touch with modern teaching methods, and incapable of relating to young people.
The current teacher appointment system works on the basis of a list that gives priority to those teachers that qualified earliest. Because of the number of teaching graduates, younger candidate rarely get posted.
Graduates are then forced to work in other professions or at the very least private institutes.
Theofilides suggested that the problem of older teachers losing touch with newer teaching methods could be solved if graduates were given temporary positions in schools.
He wondered what would happen “if there were a new Socrates out there and he was only given the opportunity to teach when he was 45.”
Committee member Christos Georgiades said the average appointment age was around 40. “These people graduated at least 25 years earlier. How much of their basic training remains intact after so long?”
He said some teachers were appointed at an age when they were already looking towards retirement.
He said that suggestions of giving the prospective teachers time in school would help them refresh what they had been taught as well as introducing them to new methods, “but would not be a complete solution to the problem.”
But responding to reporters’ questions, Georgiades said the ‘priority list’ system could not go on indefinitely “because attempts to improve the current system are being carried out, and because it’s a point of meritocracy.”
He was not in favour of going to the extreme and introducing an age limit, but did point out that “13 and 14-year-olds with problems do need someone they can relate to.”
Another member, Costas Ierokipiotis, added that any change in the policy would constitute a political decision and would not be within the Committee’s jurisdiction.
