TEACHERS looking for a job in public education will face stiffer competition from Greek-speaking Europeans once Cyprus joins the European Union. With internal borders removed and freedom of movement in place, lower-paid teachers from Greece could join hundreds of Cypriot teachers on the lengthy ‘waiting list’ for a position in a government school.
The House Education Committee will meet next Tuesday to decide whether the government will stick with the present ‘waiting list’ system for teachers of primary and secondary education.
After accession, European citizens have the right to equal treatment and non-discrimination in employment. This means that all Europeans who satisfy the criteria for teaching in Cyprus should have access to apply for that employment.
As the Cyprus system now stands, graduates wishing to teach in a state school need to apply for a place on a waiting list, according to their subject and level of qualification.
But the lists are extremely long, and have often left applicants waiting years before taking up a position.
Cases have been noted of applicants who got the call to take up a teaching position on the eve of their retirement.
Head of the Education Service Commission, Christos Theofilides, said yesterday the prevailing mood within political circles was to stay with the ‘waiting list’ system after accession but allow EU citizens also to apply for a place on the list.
Theofilides said he had been opposed to the waiting list system from the start and had written five reports to the President and Parliament, arguing for its removal.
“We believe we should have a new system where we can pick the best for the job, not the person longest on the list,” he said.
“I submit a report every year saying that this is not the best system for education in Cyprus. It is decent in that it prevents rusfeti (nepotism) but it’s not the right one,” added Theofilides.
The Secondary Education Teachers Union, OELMEK, has said in the past that it supports the waiting list system, but no one was available yesterday to comment.
There are fears in education circles that teachers from Greece will flood the market here because of the more favourable working conditions.
Any EU citizen may apply for a public teaching job as long as they have a diploma in their preferred subject, speak very good Greek and have a good knowledge of French, German or English. The same criteria apply to Cypriot applicants, said Theophilou.
Europeans may apply via post; no interview is required. If their application is approved, they immediately go on the waiting list. When it gets closer to their turn, they are invited to train at the Education Institute, from where they are finally assessed for the job.
Regarding qualifications, if a diploma is recognised in the citizen’s own member state, then it has to be recognised in Cyprus too, for the purposes of employment in education, said Theophilides.
