THE ENGLISH School in Nicosia yesterday dismissed suggestions that a £400,000 budget deficit was an issue of pressing concern.
“It’s not a sudden development,” said Dr Andreas Panayiotou, Chairman of the Board of Management at the school, saying the situation resulted from the school’s five-year plan to improve levels of education.
“Half of the existing deficit resulted from the reduction of the bi-annual Government contributions in 1998 from £140,000 to £50,000,” explained Panayiotou.
Recently appointed Finance Controller Costas Fasiddis confirmed that the deficit related to the operational budget and did not reflect the school’s overall financial position. Fassides justified the additional outlay as being part of a five-year plan, initiated in 2000, designed to reduce class sizes and increase the number of teachers and additional staff to accommodate the greater number of teaching periods introduced in the week.
“The situation has arisen,” explained Fasiddis “because the government restricts increases to tuition fees, to six per cent per annum, while teacher salaries have increased in line with inflation.”
Panayiotou confirmed that the plan incorporated investment in information technology and the infrastructure of the school but that they hoped the deficit would have been reduced to zero within four years. He also confirmed that the main objective of the plan was already being realised. “Student results have already improved over the last two years.” Panayiotou stated proudly.
The school is fee-paying establishment teaching the British curriculum. Its board is appointed by the Cabinet.
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.
