They are working at a feverish pace in the Ministry of Education, regarding the installation of closed circuit monitoring in schools that have been deemed dangerous, with the aim that before the first bell is ready to start recording data. This is a pilot application of the measure and the data will determine the next steps for the Ministry of Education.
The phenomena of vandalism observed from time to time in schools caused intense concern in the Ministry of Education, given that it is one of the largest funds regarding school safety and as it became clear, the measures taken so far did not bring the required results. It is noted that the phenomena of vandalism are more intense during the school year and specifically during the evening hours, when all procedures within the school unit are completed and during the Easter holidays.
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In the previous school year, several incidents of school vandalism were observed, such as when strangers entered a school unit in Limassol and caused damage to school rooms and equipment, or when they burned down a Lyceum on a main street in Nicosia. In fact, before the end of the year, there was an incident where a group of about fifteen hooded men set fire to tires and pushed them into a school, while there were students inside, as a result of which the intervention of teachers was deemed necessary.
After the alarming incidents, the Ministry of Education decided to proceed with an evaluation of the schools and select some that are considered high risk, in order to install closed monitoring circuits, which will record when the schools will be closed. To this end, it was decided to select schools in Nicosia and Limassol, where the problem is more pronounced.
“The two major school inspectorates proceed with the placement, in the schools that are more dangerous than the others. We hope the placement will be completed by September and then we will give a window of time to evaluate the data and then, based on the evaluation we will have, we will proceed with the extension of the measure, so that they can be placed in other schools as well,” he explained to REPORTER the Director of Secondary Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Dr. Ilias Markatziis, who is also responsible for this specific matter.
It is noted that from the assessment of the situation in the schools, the Ministry of Education decided that a total of 80 schools were classified as dangerous schools, however it was impossible to place cameras in all the schools at the same time, with the result that ten were selected, for which it is absolutely necessary to place them cameras, with the measure being piloted at the start of the new school year.
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“There are not many schools, there are about ten schools. The bottom line is to complete the placement within September so that we have data recording. There are around ten schools that will be placed at this time. It is a small indicative sample, high-risk schools and the result will be representative and based on the data, we will proceed to the next phase to install cameras in the remaining schools”.
However, despite the fact that schools are currently closed, the Ministry of Education has not received any complaints about incidents of vandalism. It is noted that during the summer period the phenomenon of vandalism is not frequent.
“As far as we know, there has been nothing during these weeks. These are waves, that is, we sometimes see concentrated cases and then we see a period of calm when we do not have cases of vandalism”.
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