IN CYPRUS, it is compulsory for children to attend school up until the third grade of gymnasium, aged 16, yet research has shown that a large number of children haven’t been educated sufficiently and no one seems to care.
DISY deputy Maria Kyriakou yesterday voiced her concerns on the alarming number of children that haven’t reached the third grade of gymnasium, some of whom haven’t even finished Primary School.
More worrying, according to Kyriakou, is the fact that the state isn’t doing anything about it.
“Military Service is just as compulsory. While an 18-year old who fails to enroll in the army will immediately be found and suffer the consequences of the law, if a child doesn’t enroll in school or is absent from class, he or she is considered missing and the state knows nothing about their whereabouts.”
Last November, alarm bells started ringing when children at the Children’s Parliament said: “Due to serious financial or family circumstances, some of us are forced into the working world leaving us with no free time and in danger of exploitation from our employers. Usually children from villages become part of the productive procedure when at the same time they could be doing something else.”
Kyriakou says DISY was immediately concerned and put the subject forward for discussion to Parliament. “We believe that if a child misses out on his or her education then he or she is also missing the train to a better life.”
At the same time the party proposed that information packs be sent to parents from the Ministry of Education.
They also asked for the Ministry of Labour to speed up proceedings on the legislation banning the employment of underage children, whether they are being paid or they are working for their parents.
And finally they urged the state to spot these children and give them the help and support they need in order to give all children a fair chance in education and good health.
With the beginning of the new school year, research was carried out by DISY in order to determine the severity of the problem. It was discovered that in the past 14 years at least 14,000 children hadn’t completed the third grade of gymnasium, out of whom 4,000 hadn’t even completed Primary School.
“Even though Cyprus is considered to have one of the highest numbers of university graduates, it seems that if we lose some children during the first stages of their education, unfortunately not enough effort is put into retrieving them and making sure they get, at least, a basic education” says Kyriakou.
DISY has now repeated its concerns in the hope that something will be done. They hope that the beginning of the new school year sees a change in attitude and children who are missing from the classrooms are found and brought back to school.
Kyriakou concludes: “We must find the children who aren’t at school this year and give them and their families the support they need, so they can have the same opportunities as other children for a better life and a better future.”
