From tomorrow, Monday, the sampling of tests will be carried out within the school units, the Education Minister told the Cyprus News Agency, Culture, Sports and Youth Prodromos Prodromou, saying that he understands the pressure on the crews on Saturday and Sunday due to the large number of students who have to present a negative test on Monday to enter the classrooms.
Over 130,000 students in public and private primary and secondary schools, he noted, need to undergo diagnostic testing, which has created queues and some inconvenience, but from tomorrow that ends. He noted that from now on, primary schools will also be screened twice a week.
In a statement to CNA, Mr. Prodromou said that the number of teachers who are either sick, contacts or have to stay at home with their minor children who are in self-limitation is also unprecedented.
Last year, he continued, they had responded to record replacements, this year the data is more pressing. We already responded on the first day of kindergarten, the Friday before last, the Education Minister said.
He added that the Education Service Commission does the replacement process electronically based on the needs recorded by the Ministry of Education. The interest of those who are candidates for substitutions is not at 100 per cent, Prodromou said, "and that is understandable."
The minister reiterated that they have a plan B and a plan C for substitutions and their goal is for children to go to schools tomorrow and have a lesson without a gap.
"We are using teachers who are present in schools from other services and I believe we will meet the needs on Monday."
"We are using teachers who are present in schools from other services and I believe we will meet the needs on Monday. He added that there will be needs on Tuesday and Wednesday and they will do everything possible in close collaboration with the Education Service Commission (ESC) to "ensure that children do not go to schools and there is no teacher."
Asked if there is and under what circumstances, the possibility of closing our school unit, Prodromos Prodromou referred to the special committee that exists in the Ministry of Education and is studying all the data and the epidemiological picture in schools. If there is a need for distance education, decisions will be taken according to the data, he said. "So far we are managing to run the schools with physical presence The aim is to have open and safe schools. Let me reiterate our appreciation for the teachers and school administrators who are making superhuman efforts to achieve this."
Call for vaccination
The Minister noted that the real solution is to increase vaccinations, noting that thousands of primary school children have already been vaccinated and interest is growing. The Ministry of Health, he continued, is organizing teams of pediatricians who vaccinate and appealed to parents to overcome any doubts and concerns they may have. "Vaccines are the medically appropriate way that science tells us to resist for as long as this pandemic lasts."
EHR President Panayiotis Demetriou told CNA that they have proceeded to cover most of the more than 530 replacements that the Ministry of Public Health has submitted that it has for tomorrow, Monday.
More than 320 posts relate to primary education, kindergartens and special education, he said, of which 61 in primary education and 16 in kindergarten teachers have not been filled. However, he said, there are assurances from the Ministry of Education that there will be no vacancy in primary education and teachers from the DPA.S.E (School Inclusion Actions) programme will be used.
There are, he continued, about 90 unfilled positions in secondary education, but they do not pose a substantial problem.
Antoniou noted that replacements are made electronically only. He noted that there was a technical problem on Friday for half an hour but had extended the application time to 5 p.m. In general, he said, there is less interest in replacements.
He also said that tomorrow, Monday, the replacement process will resume, again depending on the needs given to them by the Ministry of Public Works.
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