The Minister of Education, Sport and Youth, Mr. Prodromos Prodromou at a press conference today at the Ministry, regarding the extension of the implementation of the full-day secondary school on a nationwide basis said:
"We are here today to present the expansion of the operation of the All-day High School on a nationwide basis, in one high school in each city, and to take this opportunity to present the information leaflet, which is already available to parents in primary schools and parents with the registration of their children in the first grade of high school.
Following the initial decision of the Council of Ministers, in October 2022, and taking into account the successful operation and the very positive results we had in the All-day School of interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary learning at the Pancyprian High School, with the simultaneous operation of the two branches: Greek Language and Culture and a STEAM type school, i.e. with specialization in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Arts, After the very good results and the operation this year of the same type of High School on a trial basis at the Lanitio High School in Limassol, it was decided that from next year we will have such a school in every city and again on a trial basis.
Specifically, a full-day school will operate at the Nicolaideios Gymnasium in Paphos, the Paralimnios Gymnasium and the Evriviadesio Gymnasium in Larnaca.
I would like to take this opportunity to mention today that the full-day school being developed at the Gymnasium is a school of a different type, i.e. it is not a school in which we have additional lessons. The afternoon operation of the Full Day High School is organised with activities in which the children not only participate, but also play a leading role.
In the Full Day High School we do not have teaching from the seat, but we have learning through work, with activities and tasks that the children themselves choose and lead together with their teachers.
As far as the content is concerned, emphasis is placed on the Greek language. As we all agree we need to do more about Greek, especially in developing oral communication skills, expressing oneself in front of an audience, and opportunities to use the language through research are also given at the Holyday. In the Full Day Gymnasium, children are given the opportunity to broaden their language education and acquire oral communication skills, not in a general and vague way, but through the use of language in an interdisciplinary approach, through their involvement with projects, sometimes even with playful projects related to Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Technology and, of course, Robotics. At the same time, but also in combination with Language, and with all the science curricular areas and the possibility to jointly contribute to collaborative, interdisciplinary projects, we have a STEM-type school experience, including robotics.
As for the dimension of the meeting of art and technology, in the Pancyprian High School we saw from the children very nice creations of musical and theatrical performances, photography, artistic creation and even amateur journalism.
As for the dimension of the meeting of art and technology, in the Pancyprian High School we saw from the children very nice creations of musical and theatrical performances, photography, artistic creation and even amateur journalism. In this sense, all activities are integrated through projects, which are not just followed but largely guided by the children themselves. Most importantly, this content is cultivated through alternative pedagogical methods, different from formal teaching, with the participation and initiative of the children and the undertaking of tasks.
In the All-day High School we therefore have learning through work, the interdisciplinary approach, i.e. not specific lessons, separate from each other, but the horizontal development of various skills. In other words, the relationship between knowledge of different content is promoted through skills that children develop and of course acquire a more global approach. For we live in an age when information is abundant and very largely free. The challenge is to make use of this information and to develop critical thinking on the basis of this knowledge.
The All-day High School is also aimed at parents, who want more and not less for their children. Because I want to emphasize that there are many parents who do not always ask for less for their children, for their convenience, but more, to give them better opportunities to develop their personality and knowledge. More and better quality to develop their children's skills and talents. It is to them that the operation of the all-day secondary school is addressed, which of course, once its trial phase is completed, can then be evaluated and decisions taken on the extent to which it can operate. In any case, the implementation can be flexible, because it depends on the desire and interest of participation in it. The All Day High School is a structure that adds to the existing conventional conventional compulsory attendance high school in the mornings."
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