QUESTIONS are being asked about the status of the English School in Nicosia, with deputies saying it’s time to reform an “outdated and inadequate” structure.
The questions arose as the school’s board of governors faced a barrage of questions on the state of the school’s finances, development and accountability during a meeting of the House Education Committee.
“The unique status of the English School in Nicosia puts it in a position outside the framework of private or public school legislation,” the Chairman of the committee, Prodromos Prodromou of DISY, said yesterday.
“The fact that the school is not accountable to the Education Ministry, given its unique status, gives rise to a number of questions on various issues that deputies want answered,” he added.
A board of management representative, Magda Nicholson, told the Cyprus Mail that the English School was the only state school in Cyprus governed by a special law in the constitution. The Reverend Canon Newham established the school in 1900 and later donated it to the government under the provision that it remained independent and English speaking – a status that was maintained after independence.
But Prodromou yesterday described the legislation covering regulation of the school as outdated and inadequate. Under existing legislation, the school is governed by a system of internal regulation, making it unaccountable to parliament. The board of governors of the school is appointed by and answerable to the Cabinet and the president. This creates a vacuum in accountability, said Prodromou, given that nobody in the Cabinet can be held politically accountable for the school.
Deputies also inquired about the internal regulations and procedures governing staff and whether there were motivational incentives for them, said Prodromou.
One of the issues discussed during the meeting concerned the finances of the school and the question of whether the school was keeping up with changes and standards in the educational arena, in terms of facilities and infrastructure.
Nicholson said the Cabinet had approved a £1.5 million loan paid by the government to expand the school’s infrastructure under a five-year-plan, including new classrooms to reduce the number of students per class, a new science building and a new hall. She maintained the school board followed public school regulations in many areas and was in constant contact with the Ministries of Education and Interior.
But Prodromou pointed out that the newly appointed Interior Minister, Andreas Panayotou, a retired civil servant, was in a position of conflict of interest, as he also holds the chairmanship of the board. “This makes him accountable to the Council of Ministers, of which he is a member. This situation is unacceptable and needs to be rectified,” said Prodromou.
Both Nicholson and Prodromou agreed that many matters were left to discuss in October when the House returns from its summer recess.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
