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The Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Athena Michaelidou, participated today in the Parliamentary Committee for the Monitoring of Public Expenditure Development and Control Plans.
After the session, the Minister said in her statements to journalists: "I attended today, by invitation, a session of the Parliamentary Committee for Monitoring Plans for the Development and Control of Public Expenditure, where I presented the actions and plans of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth to rationalise public education expenditure. The Session was convened on the occasion of a report of the Audit Office for 2020.
I presented the assessment of our education system, priorities, weaknesses and spending on it. I pointed out, 1) that our education system has remained fixated on knowledge without sufficient emphasis on skills and competencies; 2) that our teachers are teaching/cultivating what the Curriculum and assessment requires them to do; and 3) that structural changes are needed to make our education system more efficient/effective and to improve learning outcomes over time.
To this end, and to realize the goal of moving to a modern, human-centered, inclusive school, a number of measures are being taken, based on research and evidence. The Governance Programme and the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth Action Plan for 2024-25 aim to address the chronic distortions in our education system, while rationally managing the resources offered through annual budgets.
I presented this action plan in detail today to the Parliamentary Committee to Monitor Public Expenditure Development Plans and Control, where I pointed out emphatically that, as a Ministry, we are focused on using the evidence of international research to improve our learning outcomes and correct pedagogical distortions through reallocation of funds and targeted policies. I also pointed out that this major change we are seeking requires a change in pedagogical culture and emphases, as well as the cultivation of skills and attitudes, not just knowledge.
Our planning includes short, medium and long term measures and is broken down into educational policies that primarily affect students and teachers, but also the administrative structures and working and monitoring mechanisms in our Ministry.
By way of indication only, I would like to mention that I informed the gentlemen and ladies members of the Commission about policies/actions relating to:
- Restructuring of the curricula, with emphasis on critical thinking and creativity.
- Implementation of a modern system of student assessment.
- Introduction of modern teaching approaches and continuous teacher training.
- Modernisation of the system of evaluation of teachers and educational work.
- Promote the expansion of all-day school, pre-primary education and STEAM schools.
- Accelerate digital transformation and strengthen teachers' digital skills.
- Re-evaluate the institution of special education.
- Strengthening the Educational Psychology Service.
- Promote the construction of model technical schools.
- Better allocation of pupils with an immigrant biography.
- Upgrading health and safety measures in schools.
- Expansion/upgrading (including environmental upgrading) of school infrastructure.
I have listed only some of the policies and actions implemented or planned to be implemented to improve learning outcomes while rationalising public education expenditure. Good governance, savings in operating costs and the direct linkage of these policies/actions to the annual Budget and the Medium Term Financial Framework will contribute significantly to achieving this dual objective. Our Ministry will closely monitor the implementation of these policies and will not hesitate to take corrective measures where necessary.
The issue of secondments and the effort to replace seconded officials with Educational Planning Officers (EPOs) was specifically discussed. It was pointed out that for some educational tasks, the secondment of teachers with postgraduate qualifications is required.
It is the aim of all of us to ensure that expenditure on education has the expected results, as envisaged in the Governance Programme. Reallocation of funds and resources more broadly and their targeted use on the basis of evidence is the only way forward. Our Programme, which we have been implementing for a year now, ensures this."
IP
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