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A portion of students of the high school Archbishop Makarios G, Platis Aglantzia are also abstaining from their classes today in protest of the delinquent behavior of their classmates and the decision of the Ministry of Education to reverse the decision of the Teachers' Association to change the school environment of students who are causing problems.
Speaking to the Cyprus Times, the President of the Parents' Association of the school Panagiotis Kyriakides said that today about 15 students did not come to their classes as they even fear for their safety.
"There have been instances of delinquency in previous years but this year, since the beginning of the school year, the situation has been reversed. These are very serious incidents which were also reported to the police. Among the incidents was the beating of a student, who ended up in hospital and had to stay at home for a month. Intimidating and threatening classmates, smoking in class and in another incident lighting torches. Also, when they found the school entrance closed, they cut the cluster with a tool and entered the school premises along with other extracurriculars," Mr. Kyriakides said.
In early October, he said, the management and teachers of the school attended a meeting and reviewed the incidents and behaviors of these students deciding to change the school environment. "The decision was sent by letter to the Ministry of Education, which took 38 days to review the case. There was an exchange of letters in which the Ministry simply said that the prescribed procedure was not followed. In fact, the last letter received last week stated that the students in question were returning to their classes again, thus overturning the Teachers' Association's decision. So not only has the Ministry delayed, it is now acting illegally as the Teachers' Association's decisions cannot be overturned."
The Ministry's decision to install a security guard at the site angered parents as, he noted, this is not a radical solution. "It is fine to appoint a guard but this is not the way to correct behaviour. It should have been so long ago that the Ministry should have already sent psychologists and social workers[/B] to the school for both students who have offending behaviour and students who have experienced the incidents and are likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder. We are calling for immediate and radical solutions for the good of all students."
Mr. Kyriakides stressed that valuable time has already been lost for students who will soon be booked to sit for term exams and will likely now have gaps in the syllabus due to the situation at the school.
The Parents' Association of the school, he noted, is looking forward to today's meeting between the Provincial Parents' Association and the Minister of Education hoping that the decision taken will be reversed and that meaningful action will be taken. If not he will attend a meeting to see if action will be taken.
Tomorrow at the school a delegation of the OELMEK
The OELMEK is aware of the incidents and the situation at the school, the General Secretary of the organisation Kostas Hadjisavas told the Cyprus Times.
"These are not just offences but dangerous behaviours. They beat up a student and threatened to commit other criminal acts against students. The Ministry cannot delay and talk about procedures that were not followed. In such serious incidents you should not wait for protocols to be followed but act immediately for the good of all."
A delegation of the organization, as Mr. Hadjisavas noted, is expected to go to the school tomorrow morning for an on-site autopsy and to talk to the management about the situation.
Within the day the Ministry of Education will respond
The Cyprus Times attempted to contact the Ministry of Education to take its position and, as we have been informed, a position on the matter is expected within the day.
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