European nationals start applying for teaching jobs

ONE week into the EU bloc and Cyprus’ education service has already begun to receive applications from European citizens to enter the public sector.

Head of the Education Service Commission Christos Theophilides said yesterday the government had received applications from France, Greece and the north.

The Commission received two applications from Turkish Cypriots wanting to work as English teachers in middle education. Five Greek nationals applied to teach theology and one French national applied for Art.

Teachers in Cyprus are placed on long waiting lists for employment in public education and are appointed according to their position on the list. Some have been known to wait until retirement age before getting a job in a school. Most take up alternative employment until their name comes up.

Theophilides said all European citizens were allowed to apply for a job in the education sector as long as they satisfied the criteria.

The rules stipulate that a candidate teacher requires very good knowledge of Greek, knowledge of English, German or French and hold a recognised diploma.

He clarified that, contrary to press reports, there was no problem whatsoever in hiring Turkish Cypriots to work in government schools as long they met the criteria.

He denied reports that it was a political issue that needed further examination.

“There is no problem in hiring Turkish Cypriots or anyone who is an EU citizen,” said Theophilides.

However, if the current ‘waiting list’ system remains in place, the prospect of getting a job for many of the new applicant teachers is slim. The time spent on the waiting list depended on each subject, said Theophilides. For commerce studies, he calculated that the commission needed 400 years to employ everyone on the list.