POLICE yesterday confirmed that they were investigating complaints that a Nicosia district high school teacher deliberately failed students and then offered to give them private lessons costing £300-400 so they could pass his class.
According to yesterday’s Politis, parents, who feel they effectively had to bribe the teacher for their children to pass the year, had in the past considered reporting the teacher, but hesitated fearing it could possibly backfire on their children.
The Cyprus Mail has learned that the practice has allegedly been going on for at least two years.
The teacher, who teaches in a village high school south of Nicosia, was reportedly so blatant in his actions that he went around bragging to students about the car he bought with their money.
Last year, from a class of 22 pupils the teacher failed 18, who were forced to re-sit the exams in September.
The Cyprus Mail contacted the headmaster of the school, who denied any knowledge of the case, adding that he had not yet been contacted by police.
He merely said: “Pupils always say these things about teachers.”
Politis said the teacher and the Education Ministry had not been notified by the police, who are expected to wrap up the investigation in the next few days and forward the case file to the Attorney-general, who will then decide whether to prosecute the teacher.
Police have gathered testimonies from parents, who claimed the teacher had failed their children, then, when asked what should be done, had told them their children could pass the exam with a few private lessons.
Parents said that the teacher had in several cases contacted them himself, and told them that their child would need 10 lessons costing between £300 and £400.
Police were also investigating a report that when one pupil failed to pass the catch-up exams in September, despite the extra lessons, the teacher went to his house and answered the questions together with the pupil.
The Secondary Education Teachers Union, OELMEK, have that they would wait for the police investigation to be completed before taking any action.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
