ES teacher’s fate to be decided end of the month

By Andria Kades

A BOARD decision regarding the fate of a senior teacher at the English School in Nicosia is expected to be finalised on August 26, according to chairwoman Magda Nicholson who denied reports that the board has decided to fire him.

Not ruling out this outcome, she told the Cyprus Mail, “I cannot say what the ultimate decision will be” as it has not yet been finalised.

The issue came to light after the teacher filed a complaint to the ombudswoman last month claiming he was being targeted for his political views which support rapprochement between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

Nicholson said the board decision was an internal matter that involved a female member of staff who launched a complaint saying “she was bullied by a senior member of staff”.

The teacher, however, alleges in his letter to the ombudswoman that this is a fabrication.

Nicholson also set to distance the school from a decision in June to hold two separate prom nights for the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot graduate students.

Although there was one graduation ceremony, it is the parents’ association that organises the leavers dance and the school has nothing to do with it, she said.

Apparently, the original prom date was set for June 24, but the Turkish Cypriot students had exams that day with an impossible timeframe that would not allow them to get to the venue in time.

It seems that their requests to have the date changed went unheeded and so they had a separate dance on June 25.

Asked if the school could not bridge such differences, Nicholson said they tried but the board’s role was advisory and could not step into other territory. She agreed that efforts so far seemed to be unsuccessful.

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.