A resolution of disagreement with the government's plan for the expansion of Pre-Primary Education from the age of four was submitted to the President of the Republic on Wednesday afternoon by the Pan-Cypriot Organization of Greek Teachers, following a protest event outside the Presidential Palace. The resolution was received on behalf of the President of the Republic by the Director of his Press Office, Andreas Iosif, noting that the concerns of POED have already been answered during the session of the Parliamentary Committee on Education.
According to the text of the resolution, despite the agreement of POED with the downward extension of the admission age to Pre-Primary Education, it finds that “the Government's plans for the implementation of the decision are, unfortunately, incomplete and incorrect and undermine the very decision, since they do not include public structures”.
“For the correct implementation of the above policy, we request that an integrated and correct plan be made, based on which the real needs will become apparent, as well as the number of children who will join, in addition to those already studying, in Public Kindergartens. On the basis of these needs, existing Public Kindergartens should be strengthened, Community Kindergartens should be converted into Public Kindergartens and, if necessary, additional Kindergarten rooms should be built. For this plan, we believe that the 12.25 million euro fund of the Recovery and Resilience Fund should be used and invested in the infrastructure of the Public School”, it is emphasized.
It is also added that the decision of the Ministry of Education to directly send children of compulsory school age to private kindergartens with a tuition subsidy, under the pretext that a place in the Public Kindergarten cannot be secured, does not correspond to reality and cannot find agreement with the teacher world, adding that this planning, in addition to being insufficient and incorrect, is particularly dangerous for the Public School, because it constitutes a direct degradation of Public Education and alters its Public character.
“Knowing the concern you have for Education and the Public School, we ask even the leader, to invite the Minister of Education to review the plan in question, so as to ensure the correct implementation of the expansion of Compulsory Pre-Primary Education from the age of four years old, through the structures of the Public School”, concludes the text of the resolution.
In her statements before the media outside the Presidential Palace, the President of POED Myria Vassiliou stated that the public school is threatened by dangerous policies by the Ministry of Education.
“We are here to shout 'no' to voucher policy, to shout that any educational policy must be made through the structures of the public school,” he said, reiterating that the Organization's members agree with the downward expansion of of pre-primary education from the age of four, however, they disagree with incorrect and dangerous plans and request that this specific policy be implemented through the conversion of community kindergartens into public ones and if and when necessary through the building expansion of existing and construction of new kindergartens.
“Policies that undermine the public school, policies that alter the public character of education will not find us in agreement, they will find us against each other,” he concluded.
For her part, the President of the All-Cypriot Kindergarten Branch, Maro Gaspari, said that the specific bill puts a gravestone on the public kindergarten and asked both the executive and the legislative power next week in the Parliament to rethink it and pass it with modification. “We are in favor of expanding the public pre-primary school downwards, but not with this specific bill and not with vouchers”, he added.
On behalf of the Association of Retired Primary Education Teachers, the President of the Association Giorgos Loukas expressed support for fight of the FOED and the parents for the upgrade of pre-primary education and emphasized that the first concern for every state should be the investment in education as without education we do not have a good society.
The Director of the Press Office of the President Andreas Iosif received the resolution on behalf of the President of the Republic. In a statement issued subsequently, it is stated that at the time the protest event was taking place, the concerns of POED had already been answered during the session of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, adding that the Government was and remains a supporter of the public school and in this effort to provide quality educators are also decisive partners in the education of our children.
“During the administration of President Anastasiades, radical changes were made in education and important cuts were made for the benefit of the educational process. All the reforms are for the benefit of the public school, which the Government supports by upgrading the logistical infrastructure, promoting digital and green education, etc. The “Cyprus – Tomorrow” Plan, the legacy of the President of the Republic to the next generations, includes investment actions for education that exceed 100 million euros”, concludes the announcement.
