Education Ministry calls on all schools to define uniforms

THE Education Ministry has requested that each school submit its official uniform code as soon as possible, in order to avoid further complications on the matter.

The call came after a meeting on Saturday with pupils’, teachers’ and parents’ unions,

“The Ministry will be sending a letter to all headmasters asking them to clarify their school’s uniform, which according to the law will be decided by each school’s teachers’, pupils’ and parents’ unions,” Soteris Xenofontos, president of pupils’ union PSEM said yesterday.

The Ministry met with PSEM, Secondary Parents’ Associations and teachers’ union OELMEK to discuss pupils’ requests for final decisions on uniform issues, broader definition of ‘decent appearance’ and the cancellation of expulsions that were given for uniform issues.

New legislation states that all internal school affairs are to be handled by teachers, parents and pupils. Each school, therefore, has its own rules concerning appearance and uniform.

The expulsion of pupils in schools where this procedure wasn’t followed is something PSEM is particularly concerned about, says Xenofontos.

“If a school hasn’t followed the relevant law and hasn’t commonly agreed on what its uniform should be, then any expulsions given are illegal. Though I’d like to add that there aren’t that many instances and it is only the minority of schools that haven’t cleared the issue of uniforms yet.”

A source from the Ministry told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that it wouldn’t be right to discuss the matter of unjust expulsions.

“The matter of expulsions is a delicate subject, which needs to be handled with discretion. I can’t comment on it,” he said.

The definition of ‘decent appearance’ is also something that will be decided internally by schools, the source said.

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