The letters sent by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth, Prodromos Prodromou, three in number, to OELMEK, will be addressed by the extraordinary Pancyprian Conference of General Delegates, which has been convened for 5 May, which will be informed by the Secretariat of the Organization. The first two letters make suggestions related to the structure of the Lyceum, while the third letter proposes the abolition of three directions
At the conference it is not excluded that reactionary measures will be discussed.
In his statements to CNA, President of OELMEK, Kostas Hadjisavas, said that through the Pancyprian Conference they want to send the message that they do not accept unilateral or arbitrary decisions "on issues that concern our educational system and issues, which instead of upgrading it, actually downgrade it", as he said.
Responding to a question, Mr. Hajisavas said that the content of the first two letters is in some respects negated by the third letter "and we were also really concerned about the content of the first two letters in which suggestions are made that are related to the structure of the high school."
He went on to say that , "we wonder how it is that the structure of the high school, namely the guidelines, started to be implemented in 2015-2016, after so many discussions in the curriculum and syllabus committees about what the guidelines would be and in one letter, the Minister of Education makes a recommendation to abolish three guidelines".
As he said, "these are certainly troubling, and in his third letter he (the Minister of Education) refutes what he wrote in the first two letters about the abolition of the three directions."
Such suggestions "are really problematic and worrying and we wonder where the dialogue is, and on what scientific evidence or documentation, such suggestions are made," he added.
Asked if their third letter was sent after the special session of the House of Representatives on the issue of four months, Hajisavas said that their third letter had been sent to OELMEK on April 13, 2022, while the other two were sent on April 4 and 5, 2022.
He noted that after the two letters, the Minister of Education invited them to a meeting to brief them.
"There was a strong reaction to the meeting and many questions and concerns were raised before the Minister of Education about his recommendations," he added.
In addition, the President of OELMEK mentioned that one of the Minister's proposals implies the abolition of the institution of the Pancyprian Examinations for the third grade.
"An institution, which is the most reliable today within Cyprus in terms of our educational system, while with his proposal the exams for both dismissal and access to public universities in Cyprus and Greece will be through two exams at the end of each semester. Which seriously concerns our Organisation. In fact, they are trying to adapt everything to quarterly exams, an institution that has proven to have serious problems," he added.
As he said, "through the interim central examination in January, a number of problems emerged both in terms of procedure and substance and it is for this reason that our Organization believes that there is no reason for quarterly examinations to exist."
As he said, "through the interim central examination in January, a number of problems emerged both in terms of procedure and substance and it is for this reason that our Organization believes that there is no reason for quarterly examinations to exist.
In response to a question on what is really worrying them, the President of OELMEK said that first of all there are so many educational issues "that the Ministry of Education is not showing a positive response in order to solve these educational issues, for example, laboratoryization of biology, chemistry and other subjects, as well as issues related to health and safety, such as the teaching of the design/technology course within the laboratories.
Other issues, he said, include tenured teachers, safety supervisors in high schools, and the new appointment system. "The problems are several. These serious issues need immediate resolution or even promotion for resolution in view of the start of the new school year," he added.
Asked what priorities they are setting and what they are asking for from the Pancyprian Conference of General Delegates, Hatzisavas said that we are talking about an extraordinary P.S.G.A. which will have as its exclusive topic, the information on the three letters of the Minister of Education and making decisions accordingly.
"What we are asking for is a meaningful dialogue with the Ministry of Education to discuss all these problems that concern our education system in order to find solutions for the further upgrading of public schools," he added. Hajisavas said that he is not aware whether any initiatives will be taken by any party or parties so that a dialogue can be initiated before the House Education Committee on this serious issue, with the participation of all stakeholders involved with education, with the aim of finding a student assessment plan that will work for the benefit of students and the public school in general.
OELMEK announcement on the three letters sent to them by the Minister of Education
The CEC of OELMEK, which met on 14 April, after discussing the three letters sent to the organisation by the Minister of Education, said, in a statement, that a common characteristic of the three letters is the complete lack of scientific documentation of the proposals they contain, which in many cases provide for radical changes and reversals of decisions taken by the government itself in recent years (e.g.We consider unacceptable the sloppiness with which the Minister of Education approaches serious issues concerning public schools, since within a week the Minister initially sent the first two letters with a series of final and unilateral decisions, which he came to modify and/or revoke a few days later (with his letter of 13.4.2022), again through new sketchy, vague and undocumented proposals, which have now become recommendations. In our view, these erratic approaches and this unacceptable sloppiness on serious issues of education are unacceptable for a modern European State in the 21st century."
It also states that, as can be seen from the content of the letters, many proposals of the Ministry of Education are based on the preservation of the four-year examinations, "to which the Minister of Education stubbornly adheres."
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"While acknowledging that they are responsible for the loss of valuable teaching time (especially the January mid-term exams), he intends to sacrifice by fire and iron on the altar of their retention many elements related to the quality of education provided. This includes, for example, the proposals for the downgrading of important courses for the students' later academic career, as well as the abolition of three whole sections of the Lyceum that the government itself created in 2015, -without ever presenting the evaluation of the new Lyceum as promised by the then Minister of Education until February 2018), he adds.
At the same time, it states that "it is evident that the Minister of Education's anti-educational inclination is to place barriers on the path of students from the age of 14 (Grade 3 as it specifically states) in education and/or to exclude a significant portion of them from making choices based on their learning needs and the studies they wish to pursue, without presenting any meaningful alternatives."
"These approaches reflect the same economistic approaches that characterised the so-called 'Rationalisation' of 2018, which is now being attempted in other ways. Since he himself recognizes that the quarter exams lead to the loss of valuable teaching time, which we have been pointing out for a long time, he should finally listen to what we have been calling for all this time, together with parents and students, which is the abolition of the quarter exams in high school (especially the midterm central examination) and their non-extension to high schools from the new school year," he adds.
It notes that the Organization's clear position is that the abolition of the mid-term exams in the third grade is imperative, after the traumatic experience of this year's graduating students with three exams in a few months.
"Considering the above and given that we consider the approaches of the Minister of Education to capital issues of our Education to be dangerous, the K.D.S. decided to convene an extraordinary Pancyprian Conference of General Delegates on 5/5/2022, in which the above issues will be discussed, without excluding the possibility of taking dynamic measures, in a critical period for our students, for which the Minister of Education himself will bear full responsibility," it notes.
The KDS of OELMEK calls once again on the Minister of Education to finally listen to the views and concerns of all stakeholders and to immediately start a meaningful dialogue with the participation of Educational Organisations, Academics, the Pedagogical Institute and the PESM in order to formulate an Evaluation Plan for students, which really works for the benefit of the Public School and primarily for the students.
It also expresses its readiness for a dialogue with the Ministry of Education and the stakeholders on all issues of Education.
"A dialogue that is meaningful, scientifically documented and systematic with specific objectives and steady steps that will contribute to the upgrading of the Public School. We emphasize, however, that we will not hesitate to react dynamically and decisively to sloppy and erratic approaches, as well as to unilateral and arbitrary actions that degrade the Public School. Our concern and absolute priority is and remains the defence of the Public School. To this end, we call on parents and students to rally", he concludes.
Source: CNA
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