A proposal for a law to abolish the ungrateful process of four months, which is a dead end, is undermined by everyone, is not adopted by anyone and the only victims are the children, is intended to be tabled next year by the Chairman of the Education Committee of the Parliament, Pavlos Mylonas, in collaboration with the other members of the Committee.
In statements after a visit to the Evryviadio High School in Larnaca, when asked about the issue of the four months, the President of the Education Committee answered that “after what is happening, there is no other solution, I intend to submit a proposal, I will take the initiative, at least start the process of ending this thankless process of four months. It is a dead end, it is undermined by everyone, no one adopts it and the victims are only our children”.
It is my obligation, he continued, “I feel it as a person to file a law proposal, in consultation with colleagues of course, to submit the proposal, in the spring with the new government”.
In the meantime, the Federation of Associations of Parents and Guardians of Secondary and Technical Education of Larnaca held a symbolic protest event for the problems in the schools of Larnaca and the four-month exams at noon during the visit of the Education Committee to Evriviadio High School.
Protesters held placards reading “Equal opportunities for all”, “No to turning the School into a tutoring”, “No to mammoth schools”, “School is a place of joy and creativity”, “Overcrowding and unsuitable classrooms” and “Don't you are killing the creativity of our children”.
The situation in Vergina is tragic
Regarding the visits made by the Education Committee, Mr. Mylonas stated that “the Committee with the deputies of Larnaca will promote the problems that have been reported to us during our visits to the various schools, mainly overcrowding”. “We went to the Vergina High School and High School and the situation is tragic” he said and noted that “the procedures for building new school units must definitely be accelerated”.
He added that “in the primary schools we went to we found problems again , which need to be resolved and are again related to the building facilities. But with regard to the issue of overpopulation, the Parliament and the executive power, with the new government, must seriously look at the ways in which we relieve the school units”. “There is overcrowding in too many schools and there is a very serious problem,” he said.
Asked about the issue of the Dianellio Technical School, Mr. Mylonas replied that “we were asked about our specific issue both in the Vergina schools we visited and in those in Aradippou, that is, for new schools because there is indeed a problem. At Aradippou High School there are 600 students, which is a huge problem of overcrowding and at least six more classes will be needed to house the students.
He also mentioned that “we know that in order to build a school there is a public process that can take five to eight years, so we have to find solutions before five, eight, or even ten years. The new government should devise an organizational chart, a strategy so that we have new school units, that is, to build schools, to give money”.
Mr. Mylonas even raised the question “we prefer to build schools than prisons” and called on the authorities to answer it.
In his statements, Kostas Kostas, President of the Federation of Parents and Guardians of Secondary and Technical Education of Larnaca, stated that the protest event is taking place at the Evryviadio Gymnasium “which is essentially a construction site and presents problems for students to coexist with these projects”.
However, he added, “the main issues we have raised in this protest are the four-month exams that suffocate our children in schools and create conditions of stress and maleducation”.
“We were pleased to hear that the President of the Education Committee of the Parliament, Pavlos Mylonas, recognized the problem during today's visit to the Aradippou High School and announced in front of the school that in March he will submit a proposal for a law to abolish the four-month exams”, he said.
Essentially, said Mr. Kostas, “this statement justifies all our own protests because we really want the evaluation of our children, we want things to be corrected but we do not want schools to be turned into tutoring centers, only some courses are taught selectively and all the other courses are either downgraded or curtailed. It is typical of the teacher's statement today that unfortunately they are running and cannot help the children to consolidate and understand the material”.
The second major issue, he continued, that exists in the schools of Larnaca is “the logistical infrastructure, since they face many problems, the main one being overpopulation”. “There are schools in the areas of Vergina, Aradippou, Livadia and Dromolaxia where there really are no other spaces available” he said and added that “rooms are closed to do other things and technological or other courses are prevented from taking place in the actual rooms”.
In response to a related question, Mr. Costas said that “the overcrowded schools are Vergina, Aradippou, Livadia and Drosia High Schools. Basically, the biggest problem is found in the Gymnasiums of Larnaca as well as in some High Schools”.
Unfortunately, he said “the cancellation of the construction of a new school on the site of the Dianellio Technical School has aggravated the problem. Besides, today's confession of the Technical Services states that there is no planning in the next five years for the construction of any High School in Larnaca,” he concluded.
The Education Committee of the Parliament visited the Primary School of Aradippou V – Agioi Auxentiou and Efstathiou, the Vergina High School and High School, the Aradippou High School, the Agios Georgios Primary School and the Evryviadeo High School.
