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Fourteen schools in Paphos District are operating as DRASE, Pafos Primary Education Officer Dimitris Mikellidis told CNA, adding that these are schools - social inclusion actions, staffed with additional teachers and with additional hours for children who are foreign-language speakers.
Mikellidis noted that the percentage of foreign students in primary schools in Paphos District is over 35%. This percentage, he continued, includes primary school students who have been in Cyprus for years and may speak Greek better than we do. They are simply of foreign origin.
He also mentioned that the teaching hours of foreign language students have doubled in the other schools, which are not part of the DRASE.
As Mr. Mikellidis explained that a great effort is being made so that these children learn the Greek language and their integration into primary schools is smoother, better and more correct, stressing that this is an area of constant concern.
I think, he said, that the policies that we are following, which have changed this year, enable us to be ready at any time on the basis of the data that we collect from the implementation of the new policies. Also, he said, "we are ready to make any change, big or small, that is needed for an even better implementation of the policy on migration biography."
Mikellidis noted that their concern is how the children are integrated smoothly, so that they learn the language, but also that the schools and classes function, as he said, in their entirety with the mixed presence of Greek Cypriots and children from foreign countries, without problems in the learning part. If there is a great imbalance in the issue of language, an educational issue is created, he noted.
Our desire, he continued, is to mitigate, reduce, eliminate this issue by strengthening the teaching of the Greek language to foreign children. It is something to which we have attached great importance and we are on the right track, he added.
Measure test to stay
Regarding the test to stay measure, Mr. Mikellidis said that initially there were some minor reactions regarding the feasibility of the measure and whether it would be successful, but he said it from day one showed its "good teeth" , in his words.
He said parents embraced it and as a result we now have some thousands of contact children who take the test and that very few who test positive after the test remain at home and the rest continue their regular face-to-face education.
I appreciate, he continued, that, "it is a measure that, yes, started in the schools, but I do not rule out extending it to other sectors of workers, because it seems to be the appropriate measure to return to normality without all these constant problems and these bottlenecks that occur in the public and private workplace."
Online education
Asked about online education, Mr. Mikellidis said that it has decreased in terms of students because we have their face-to-face presence, adding that they make use of online education, mainly in terms of training and communication with teachers. It is also used for the parents themselves with some seminars that they want to do or did last year.
He also pointed out that they understand the anxiety of parents and teachers to do activities for the children beyond the lessons, noting that these activities are the "salt and pepper" that makes the presence in schools even more attractive.
He also mentioned the small problem that exists in Kindergartens, saying that under protocol when there is a case in a Kindergarten the children are considered a contact and essentially the class for a ten-day period does not function.
I believe, he stressed, that "when a class stays home for ten days it is now an ethical issue," noting that when "children return to school they should definitely be subjected to rapid screening tests." Unfortunately, he observed, we have had instances of children returning after ten days away from school, some parents not having proceeded with the test and in the afternoon when the test was carried out their child being found positive.
The Paphos Primary Education Officer said that in 1986 when he was first appointed and also in 1990 and 1992 there was one teacher and twenty pupils working in single-seat schools. Now, he added, things have changed and a school attended by 20-21 pupils has three or four teachers, has special education and has a Direct Intervention Team. He further said that the facilities are very many and the improvements are continuous.
He further estimated that leaving the pandemic will also leave a lot of good in the mindsets and the way we work within the schools. Still, he said, it will leave distance education for when it is needed and the way students come and go from school, adding that "no evil is equal to good."
Source: CNA
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