The new school season begins without major problems or difficulties, Minister of Education and Culture Costas Kadis stressed, in an interview with CNA, and referred to the three main objectives that have been set.
The objectives, he said, were to improve learning, to achieve sustainable development and make the school units greener and more environmentally friendly, and to take lessons from the struggles of the Cypriots for freedom. “The ultimate goal is for the students to learn the history of our country, about the struggles of Cypriots for freedom and democracy, in Cyprus and abroad”, he explained.
Asked how many students would be attending school this year, the Minister said that in the public secondary schools, a total of 42,205 students have been registered compared to 43,340 in the previous year, while the classrooms will be 1,935 compared to 1,996 last year.
“We have a decrease in the number of students compared to the previous terms and it is on this basis that we have lower needs for teachers. One of the reasons for this decrease is the trend among the students for choosing technical education. In addition, there was also a group of citizens that left Cyprus due to the financial crisis, which in turn resulted in the decrease of the number of students in Cyprus”, he said.
The Minister of Education said that in primary education, a total of 48,765 pupils will attend public schools, compared to 48,645 last year and that there will be a total of 2,670 classrooms in the primary schools compared to 2,639 classrooms in the previous year. In the technical education, 4,800 students will attend schools, around 250 more than the previous year.
He also said that the number of primary school teachers would be 11,840, almost the same number as last year.
As regards the students from low income families, Kadis said that all the necessary preparations have been made in order to ensure that the students in need will be supported. As he explained, it is ensured that a breakfast of a sandwich and juice will be given to 13,000 students across Cyprus.
Replying to questions regarding the new curriculum, Kadis said that the aim is to create a new curriculum, which will be connected to the access system of public universities. He added that for that issue, a discussion will begin with all involved parties.
At the same time, the Education Minister told CNA that this year his Ministry wished to send the message of further autonomy of school units and for that reason fewer encyclicals will be sent to the schools. “I will also limit the number of messages sent by the Minister in schools”, he pointed out.
Asked about the effort to modernise the education system in Cyprus, the Minister said that this efforts continued on all levels. “On the level of the restructuring of the Ministry of Education and Culture, our effort aims at changing the centralised character of the Ministry. We want to go to a more decentralised system, where the Ministry will work with more flexibility and less bureaucratic procedures”, he said.
Regarding the recommendations of the World Bank, Kadis noted that the Ministry, in line with these recommendations, has established a strategic plan, which includes the most important issues raised by the World Bank.
“Those issues concern the restructuring and decentralisation of the Ministry, the appointment system, the system for evaluating teachers and the system of educating the teachers. This strategic plan, which has been discussed with the Troika and approved by the Cabinet, includes specific time frames and actions needed to be taken in order to achieve results in each of these issues”, he said.
Finally, asked about the trade unions, Kadis stressed the importance of maintaining a good relationship and communication with not only the trade unions but also with other organisations dealing with issues such as culture, sports, and youth. “I firmly believe that through a sincere dialogue and through the synthesis of views we can find the best solutions. This is the philosophy we adopt at the Ministry of Education and Culture”, he said.