Coronavirus: Education minister reassures final year lyceum students

The school year will be completed, and solutions will be found so that graduates can apply for university positions, the education minister said on Monday.

“As for our plans, I believe as the days go by and we gain a clearer picture we will be able to announce solutions for the rest of the school year,” Education Minister Prodromos Prodromou told CyBC.

“Especially for those in their final year, as we said from the start, their exams will only be based on what was taught up to March 13. There is not much of a chance that other material is added,” he said.

Schools initially closed only in Nicosia and as a “precautionary measure” on March 10. All schools island-wide were then closed on March 13, on the same day the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic.

“There’s no need for additional anxiety on top of what is already present due to the current situation we’re living in,” Prodromou said.

“There’s no reason for being overly tied to just one way of doing things or for being too strict.”

Prodromou sought to reassure parents and students but found it hard to pin down any specifics, as he repeatedly warned that the situation is complicated.

Asked about what would happen in the event of Greece postponing their exams for September, Prodromou replied that: “currently there are no plans for September”.

“And neither do we need to, if Greece does.”

He highlighted, however, that their efforts are focused on organising the exams before final year male students are inducted into the National Guard.

The education minister also said that the examinations will take into account the extraordinary circumstances.

He said the ministry has not rushed to make any announcement as so many factors are at play.

“We are not excluding the possibility of our own exams, and it also depends on what the government orders are as to how many students will be able to enter a classroom,” he said.