THE EDUCATION Ministry is looking behind the veil into who hired the belly dancer that turned up the heat at a school beach trip last Thursday.
Final year pupils of Larnaca’s Technical School were enjoying an organised school trip to MacKenzie beach when a belly dancer showed up, and launched into a sensual dance.
The presence of mobile phones ensured that the resulting scenes of teachers entwined with the entertainer were recorded and passed around the island.
One scene that raised more than a few eyebrows involved the hired dancer wrapping her legs around a male teacher and unbuttoning his shirt. It is not yet clear who arranged for the belly dancer to be there. According to reports, pupils maintain that it was the teachers’ initiative. Parents of the pupils were reportedly horrified by the impromptu dance scenes.
Director of Technical Education, Charalambos Constantinou, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the ministry was still looking into the matter.
“What happened was not appropriate and reprehensible. We will inform the Education Minister of our preliminary investigation and wait to hear if any further steps should be taken,” said Constantinou.
Asked whether the ministry had established who was responsible for hiring the dancer, he said: “We are still looking into the matter. We have to hear what those involved have to say. It was probably a foolish initiative of the pupils. But regardless, the teachers should have asked her to leave.”
Constantinou hinted that disciplinary measures would likely be taken against those found responsible, whether pupils or staff.
“I’ve seen photos of the whole trip, and otherwise it was a very organised and decent trip, with just one bad incident,” he added.
Chairman of the House Education Committee, Nicos Tornaritis called on the minister to get to the bottom of the story and implement disciplinary measures where they were due.
“That behaviour is not worthy of a public school,” said the DISY deputy.
Head of the secondary school parents’ confederation, Nicos Vitsaides, also described the incident as “reprehensible”, though he was more concerned with teachers’ reactions than the gyrating moves of the exotic dancer.
“It doesn’t bother us about the belly dancer. It’s the actions of those involved that bother us, like when she jumped on the teacher and unbuttoned his shirt,” said Vitsaides.
“The Education Minister should apportion blame where it is due. Teachers need to be role models of morality,” he said.
The secondary school teachers’ union, OELMEK, sent a letter to the minister calling for an investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, the technical schools’ director, Constantinou, highlighted that more focus should be given to the positive aspects of technical schools, not just the negative.
“For example, I just received a letter from a graduate studying a PhD in the US. He wanted to let us know how proud he was to be a graduate of the Technical School,” said Constantinou.
