On the issue of contract teachers, it is true that in our country's education system there are proportionally more contract teachers than in the other EU member-states, as OELMEK observed in a public intervention yesterday.
However, as is well known, this is due to peculiarities and special arrangements for the employment of teachers in Cyprus. It is due to the fact that even when the number of students decreases, additional needs and therefore a number of new contracts arise as a consequence of the employment conditions of teachers.
Specifically, in the school year 2021-22, despite the slightly lower number of students in Secondary Education, there was a need to employ about 80 additional contract teachers, as a result of the annual reduction of the teaching time of existing teachers.
The number of students has been continuously decreasing over time, which between 2007-08 and 2021-22 reached 18.3% in Secondary Education. At the same time, the number of teachers is continuously increasing.
Specifically, between the school years 2016-17 and 2020-21, for an approximately unchanged number of students (0.2% decrease), the number of teachers (permanent, contract and indefinite) increased by 7.5%. It is noted that a similar trend is also observed in Primary Education.
The "easy" or even "automatic" solution would be, as the leadership of OELMEK claims, "the increase of permanent organic positions". But is it not also necessary to reflect on the matching of the actual needs - as derived from the number of students - and the number of employed teachers?
IP
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
