By George Psyllides
THE SCHOOL year has got off to a bad start, with parents and teachers’ associations complaining about the many problems that plague the education system.
With children having gone back to school on Monday, the Secondary Education Teachers union Oelmek said yesterday one of the biggest problems in secondary education was that teachers had to teach in two or more schools at the same time.
The problem arises from late appointments and transfers of teachers, the union says. Any movement of teachers should be planned in order to avoid staff shortages at the beginning of the school year, Soteris Charalambous, general secretary of the union said yesterday.
But, sources at the Ministry of Education told the Cyprus Mailsome of these problems were unavoidable. The process of transfers and appointments begins in June, but due to objections from the teachers, the process is often prolonged.
In addition, some teachers who do not make up their allotted teaching hours at one school have to do so in another.
The problems are not restricted to the secondary sector, with primary schools suffering many problems of their own. Fluctuations in student numbers cause changes in class sizes, which in turn force teachers to move from school to school.
“The situation is better this year,” said Sofocles Charalambides, the director of primary education at the Education Ministry. “All sides concerned have a positive attitude about solving this problem,” he said.
But education problems do not end here. Charalambous of Oelmek said parents and teachers were complaining that increases in the number of students had created mammoth schools, and that students were not getting the necessary attention from teachers.
Teachers argue the ideal number of pupils per class should be 25, but the ministry apparently believes it should be 30.
And while class sizes might affect the quality of teaching, building work at many schools is posing a potential safety risk to children. In one elementary school in Limassol, it was reported yesterday that the shortage of space had one class to sit in the refurbished building of the old toilets.
