Disturbed by the Government's decision not to sign the law for the extension of the Pre-Primary downwards and to report it to the Supreme Court, the involved bodies present themselves, who say it was a mistake.
The Parliament's decision not to accept the impeachment of the President for the specific law, in turn led the President of the Republic to report the legislation passed in the extraordinary Plenary Session of the Parliament, shortly before the expiration of the previous year, to the Supreme Court. This move has been opposed by organized parents, who say it is a wrong decision.
“We think it is wrong, because it delays the expansion of Pre-Primary downwards, as stated in the law. We thought that the President of the Republic would see the general good and sign the law, but he did not. We remain with the old data, which does not satisfy us”, the president of the organized parents of Prodimotiki, Ioannis Ioannou, explained to REPORTER.
At the moment, parents and teachers are also waiting for the Supreme Court's decision on this matter, so they know what will happen next. “We hope that the Ministry of Education will be ready to implement the law, should the Supreme Court decide that it can be implemented. The Ministry must be ready so that the registrations can take place in the coming school year, if a decision is made”.
For its part, POED is expected to raise the matter at the next Board of Directors meeting, which will be held on January 19, to study its next steps.
“Our position was recorded from the beginning. It is sad that an educational policy, correct in all respects, with a positive sign for both educational and social reasons, ends up in a field of conflict and confrontation”, pointed out the president of the teachers' organization, Myria Vassiliou.
However, the message that the teachers wanted to send from the beginning was that if the FOED's position was adopted from the beginning of drafting the law, perhaps this conclusion would not have existed.
It should be recalled that in the announcement of the Presidency it was mentioned that the President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Anastasiadis decided to refer to the Supreme Court, the Law on Primary and Secondary Education.
As reasons for the reference he cites, among others:
- < li>The fact that the law as formulated and passed by the Parliament excludes the right of citizens to have a choice for their children to attend a public or private school.
- The specific provisions of the legislation as passed create insurmountable difficulties for the enrollment and attendance of children in Pre-primary school during the school years 2023-2024, 2024-2025.
Furthermore it is noted that with the specific provisions added by the Parliament to the original legislative proposal essentially the dynamic has been canceled possibility of utilizing the “Cyprus tomorrow” recovery plan and the sponsorship of thousands of beneficiaries for an amount of €12.2 million as agreed with the European Commission.
