PUPILS from 25 secondary schools islandwide yesterday refused to enter their classrooms in protest over their teachers’ adoption of a “work to rule”.
It is estimated that one in four secondary schools were paralysed yesterday after teachers’ union, OELMEK pushed forward with its decision to abstain from any extracurricular activity, as a response to what they felt was a lack of appreciation for their profession by the state and society.
Students were livid at their teachers’ actions. Many students felt that the teachers were holding their future to ransom for their own financial gains.
“Whether the teachers’ demands from the government are justified or not is immaterial. We, as students, are the ones shouldering the consequences” said one student from Kykkos A’ lyceum.
“Our future and academic chances of securing a place in universities is being victimised for a few euros” said another.
The strike was organised through social networks and took many teachers and parents aback by its spontaneous nature.
One of the most telling banners said: “You are obliterating everything you have taught us, for a few euros.”
“We are neither economists nor politicians to know what measures need to be taken by the government to tackle the crisis” said a student.
“What we do know though is that these current OELMEK measures have only one victim, and that is us.”
Many students expressed their disappointment at having worked hard to have the appropriate grades to participate in the upcoming parade on October 28, only to see it scrapped by the OELMEK measures.
Others lamented the fact that they were in their final year, and would subsequently miss important activities such as school trips and celebrations due to the teachers’ stance.
Although the strike was only meant to last the first two teaching periods, once it grew in numbers it more or less got out of control, resulting in students losing a whole day of classes and leaving the school premises.
With students pouring into the streets, there was a clear concern about their safety. One student was injured in a car accident, and although her condition is not serious, she is expected to remain in hospital for up to four days.
Chairman of OELMEK, Demetris Taliadoros, said that the students had acted against their own interests, and rejected any claim that the teachers had targeted the students by their actions.
Taliadoros said OELMEK wanted to highlight the social injustice focused on newly appointed teachers whose pay is restricted to €2,000 by the government’s first austerity measure.
“There are teachers who have been employed as temporary teachers for over 10 years, and yet they will be included in this two-tier payment format” said Taliadoros.
“The student strike shows how important the extracurricular activities we perform are for the students and their education” said Taliadoros
Taliadoros said OELMEK had successfully sent out the messages it wanted about the teachers’ all-round contribution to society and hit back at the negative flak the teachers received for their strike in September.
He said he was optimistic that an agreement could be found within the next two days.
Giorgos Demosthenous, the Education Minister called on teachers to rethink their stance, because it was unintentionally harming students.
Demosthenous said that he felt the student unrest was justified and recognised their right to demonstrate and demand the best for themselves.
Zena Poulli, the Ministry’s director of secondary education said that the Ministry had warned headmasters last week of possible student action, and directed them to ensure student safety.
Headmasters yesterday called on OELMEK to withdraw their measure.
Stephanos Stephanou, Chairman of the Cyprus federation of parents, said the federation had a meeting with OELMEK yesterday, in which it expressed its deep concern for the current situation. OELMEK said that they were sticking firm to their stance, and were hopeful that a solution would be found soon.
Stephanou said that out of the 22 measures adopted by OELMEK, 14 of them concerned their job’s terms of reference, which has a direct impact to the students.
“Our position has been consistently clear, we are opposed to any event that destabilises the academic environment of our schools” said Stephanou.
Stephanou said that the parents completely understood the students’ frustration and called on teachers to reconsider their stance. He also said that there were much more important issues to be dealt with on education, and that this was an unfortunate sidetrack.
A meeting between the Finance Minister and OELMEK representatives is arranged for this morning, amidst concerns of prolonged student demonstrations.
