Pomos parents on the attack

Parents of children attending the remote Pomos Primary School yesterday attacked the Education Ministry for cutting the number of teachers at the school, adding to the teething problems at the start of the new school year.

On Monday, parents in Lakatamia and Zakaki kept their children at home in protest at construction delays at their schools.

The community of Pomos – which gets most of its revenue from the fishing industry – is some 60 kilometres away from Paphos with a population of just 600 people. Parents from the nearby villages of of Pachiammos and Nea Dimmata also attend the Primary School in Pomos.

The President of the Parents’ Association of the school, Simos Spyrou, yesterday expressed his frustration at the Ministry of Education’s decision to cut the number of teachers at the school.

“We want the Ministry of Education to clear their position on this issue. The students will stay away from school until this matter is sorted out because it is unacceptable that for the last year only four teachers taught 51 students and this year only three teachers are there to teach 50 students,” he told the Cyprus Mail.

According to reports, the Ministry’s decision to remove a teaching position from school stems from an error last year when an extra teacher was appointed in Pomos. The Parents’ Association, however, is not impressed with the excuse and remains adamant that the school is being treated unfairly.

”Some individuals back in Nicosia have to understand that although we are a small community here, we still have rights and want to be treated fairly,” said an angry Spyrou.
Speaking to Politis newspaper yesterday, Spyrou also struck out at the Ministry’s lack of financial assistance for the community. According to Spyrou, the Ministry had approved financial assistance for a large under-privileged family from another village in helping them get to and from the school. “They have still not yet received a single penny,” stated Spyrou.

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.