THE EDUCATION Ministry’s recently announced measures to combat teenage delinquency are little more than “first aid measures”, according to the Chairman of the House Education Committee.
Nicos Tornaritis of DISY yesterday proposed his party’s 10 added measures, which he believes will help combat the problem more effectively.
The Ministry announced a series of measures after a small riot broke out between the lyceums of Kykkos A and Kykkos B earlier in the week.
DISY proposed the creation of a permanent Security Observatory Body, which will tour the island’s schools and register the levels of delinquency, while checking that the measures being implemented are having the desired effect.
The opposition also proposes and amendment of regulations for higher education, regarding teenage delinquency.
Tornaritis called for the reinforcement and better staffing of Parenting Schools, so that parents can get expert advice on issues such as child psychology, educational methods and sociology. “The vast majority of parents do not participate in the training that is offered today,” he pointed out.
The remaining measures are as follows:
l Reinforce and upgrade the services of Advisory Training and Educational Psychology
l Support all foreign pupils and pupils with learning difficulties. “Ten per cent of children have learning difficulties,” said Tornaritis, adding, “these children are not inferior to their classmates”.
l Train teachers so they are capable of dealing with teenage behaviours and delinquency, with modern teaching methods and better communication.
l Continuous observation of European actions to deal with teenage delinquency, “so that we can absorb the experiences of other countries and be constantly updated on new measures and implementations”.
l Guard school areas and increase safety measures
l Build schools with cafeterias, play areas and air-conditioning, so that the school’s architecture does not encourage delinquency
Tornaritis wondered whether the Education Minister’s public statements to cancel school uniforms helped the situation.
He also referred to the ministry’s measures – providing among others the instalment of guards in the two schools, promoting common events between the schools and placing mentors for pupils with antisocial behaviour – saying they were “like an aspirin”.
The Education Committee Chairman concluded with a message from Europe, which says ‘bad’ children are usually ‘sad’ children: “we are obliged to put the smile back on their faces.”
