In the given conditions with the epidemiological data as we all know, the situation in the schools is definitely difficult, said the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth, Prodromos Prodromou, in his statements to KYPE. He focused on the “absences of a number of teachers”. Some, he said, are absent for pandemic reasons whether they are cases or contacts, while “some others have to stay home for babysitting purposes, which are also restricted.”
According to Mr. Prodromou, “today a very large number of replacements had to be made, a few hundred”.
The Minister of Education also stated that the efforts made through the Committee of Education Service exhaust the lists and the available substitutes and beyond that, internal arrangements are employed either between programs of the Ministry of Education, utilizing some teachers who serve in DRA schools. S.E., either by bringing philologists to primary schools, where the gaps can not be filled, or by internal arrangements.
As he said, there are fixed instructions in the addresses of the Ministry of Education.
“We have tomorrow's numbers. “I have information that Secondary Education may need an additional number of almost 137 teachers, of whom the actual needs will be around 60,” he said, adding that “the replacement process is based on regulations for teachers who are absent for three days and up ».
And secondly, Mr. Prodromou continued, “a number of those who are absent have been suffering from chronic diseases for a long time”. Therefore, he said, “the real numbers we have to replace are different.”
He called on educational organizations “to stop trying to guess the numbers and to send misleading messages,” he said. “The only valid statistics are those given by the directorates of the Ministry in cooperation with the Committee of the Education Service”, he added.
Four-month exams
Answering the issue of the four-month exams and the students who will be absent due to the pandemic, Mr. Prodromou said that there is a fixed provision, which is valid regardless of the pandemic.
“It is always provided that there is a second series of exams for those who for any reason will be hindered, will be justifiably absent and will not attend the exams,” he clarified. From the time the issue was raised, he said, “we have two questions for each exam, two essays, just for this purpose.” Therefore, he added, “this is not something new.”
“What we will do especially this year is in case there is a need for a third series and of course for some children to attend exams, who will have lost the first exam, this will not be to the detriment of the students. “We will talk for a few hours afterwards, once the exams are over,” he concluded.
