THE DUST has only just settled on the change of leadership at the English School’s board of governors and its parents association (ESPA), and the school’s principal has already handed in her resignation, triggering parents to demand the removal of the “politically-motivated” board.
A new spat is threatening to throw the school back into turmoil, coming hot on the heels of the divisive debate between the board and parents over how best to handle Turkish Cypriot students.
The new working conditions drawn up by head teacher Deborah Duncan set the scene, with the main protagonists being the majority of teaching staff. The head teacher has had to play an intricate balancing act between the teachers’ union, traditionally resistant to change, an AKEL-dominated union-friendly board, and a parents association preoccupied with the perceived loss of Greek identity.
While juggling opposing demands, Duncan tried introducing reforms to bring the school up to European standards. Something critics and allies thought was “too much too soon” for the 111-year-old school. Injecting further complexity, is the continuing power struggle between the parents and board, and the latter’s refusal to support the head teacher.
Duncan’s three-year contract ends in summer 2012, yet she has announced her resignation on the school’s website with effect from January 2012. She yesterday refused to comment. One of her supporters at the school, a teacher who wished to remain anonymous, said Duncan felt the board didn’t show her sufficient support in her dealings with the union.
“Most of what she did was educationally sound. She was trying to bring the school forward but the staff were upset because they felt she did too much too soon. They felt threatened by the changes. She tried to do in two years what didn’t happen in the last ten. That’s her only possible fault,” said the teacher. The source said Duncan tried to bring some order to the staff union, which was traditionally seen as “too strong” and “an obstacle to change”.
On the other hand, she was facing the interventions of the ESPA, which “put too many pressures on her and wanted to intervene in school affairs that weren’t their concern”.
The teacher rubbished suggestions party politics played a role in decision-making. “The education policies followed were those based on the principles of multicultural education as promoted by the Council of Europe and UNESCO. They were not trying to promote a left-wing ideology, this is what ESPA perceives though,” said the teacher.
The return of Turkish Cypriots to the school – now 12 per cent of total pupils – has been dogged by controversy in the last eight years.
The previous board incurred the wrath of the ESPA when it decided to introduce the Muslim Bayram holiday, and contemplated closing the school on November 15, the occasion of the breakaway state’s unilateral declaration of independence. This didn’t happen, but Bayram is now an official school holiday.
On January 19 this year, ESPA addressed an open letter to President Demetris Christofias, slamming the board for imposing Bayram rather than fix deteriorating facilities.
“We have reached the point where half of the students are being taught in makeshift classrooms, while certain teachers are keen to convince the students that the national anthem does not belong to Cyprus but to another country,” the letter said.
The next day, the government named the new board, with the old board managing just three years in charge.
The new 10-member board, chaired by Antonis Valanides, convened officially for the first time at the end of February.
By March, DISY’s Katy Clerides resigned from the board, citing the “wrong” decision to back one side over the other in the simmering labour dispute between Duncan and staff.
According to Clerides, she also got the impression she was just a token member of the AKEL-backed board, which had an agenda to push through regardless of minority voices. “I felt that we were just there to rubber-stamp decisions taken elsewhere, that’s why I resigned,” said Clerides.
Two months later, on May 18, the parents association sent another open letter to the president asking for the board’s replacement again, claiming that party politics were getting in the way.
The association claimed the school was “on the brink of destruction” mainly due to the board’s politically-tainted decisions and inability to handle the various issues, like building renovation and their refusal to discuss the school programme and holidays with ESPA.
It further blamed the board for failing to decide in time on renewal of the head teacher’s contract, leading to her resignation.
New head of ESPA, Koula Zampela Loizou, said a further gripe was chairman Valanides’ decision to prohibit any member of ESPA’s council from seeing Duncan alone.
“Certain people, certain actions taken within the school have created more friction. I’m talking about the board, appointed because of their political beliefs, not their ability to govern,” she said.
The left-leaning board’s apparent decision to back union members against the head teacher has further riled some parents already concerned about the erosion of “Greekness” in the school.
For his part, Valanides was adamant the board took all decisions collectively and in most cases unanimously, adding however, “No one has a blank cheque to do as they wish, neither the board nor the head teacher”.
On Duncan’s attempted reform, he said: “There was a reaction from a large majority of staff, around 80 per cent, including most of the 15 heads of department. Most staff said she was trying to do too much too soon.”
The chairman argued that the head teacher should never have tried to enact changes without first getting the views of the department heads first who would be implementing them.
“We neither said we are for or against the changes, we said we would investigate further and are awaiting a summary of the opinions of the department heads,” he said. Valanides noted one failed change regarding the length of class periods ended up costing the school €120,000.
Regarding criticism that the board failed to prevent Duncan’s resignation, he argued that the board had promised to discuss a renewal in June, a year before her contract expired. “But we didn’t get a chance to discuss it.”
The chairman also rubbished rumours that the board was trying to insert a Cypriot head teacher.
In response to parents’ claim that political decisions were being taken, he said: “I ask them to tell us what board decision taken have political implications? More likely, they want us to take political decisions on the holidays issue and we say that is not their business to tell us what to do.”
The new board head said the final decision on Bayram was proposed by senior management, not the board, “because you can’t tell 150 students, don’t come to school today if you like, which is what we were doing in the past”.
He called on the association “to keep within their limits and not get involved in everything”.
According to Valanides, the ESPA was invited on Tuesday to a meeting with the board scheduled for yesterday 4pm. “On Wednesday, they decided instead to cancel the meeting, sent a letter to the president and the media and have meetings with the political parties. Why? I don’t know. You can draw your own conclusions,” he said.
