Minister presents new appointments plan to teachers’ unions

Education Minister Athena Michaelidou on Tuesday presented the government’s latest plan to reform the way in which teachers are appointed to trade union leaders, though she admitted that she does not expect union leaders to be in full agreement, following months of wrangling over the matter. “On these issues, let me remind you, as in the evaluation reforms, we are making reforms, we are making adjustments, we do not expect a full agreement. It would be strange if we had a full agreement,” she said. Nonetheless, she stressed that her ministry “does not see today” but instead “sees tomorrow, the future of this place, our children” when making plans. She went on to say that she believes there will be “no problem” in hiring teachers once the reforms are implemented, saying that with the reform effectively expunging 40,000 people from the list of potential appointees, “the employment prospects of those already serving in the education system will improve”. Related Articles • Teachers’ unions begrudgingly agree to meet Michaelidou over new appointment system • Our View: Govt must show no mercy on underperforming teachers • Three in four young Cypriots read no books • Teachers to protest outside palace • Teacher unions call for better public education • Education ministry says school air conditioning safety ‘non-negotiable’ On this front, she said that this will allow teachers who “are currently in a low position on the list” to access better opportunities to secure permanent posts. “It cleans up, if I may use the term, the list, and only people who have served in the system during the last five years [will be included in it],” she said. She also poured scorn on the teachers’ plans to stage a protest over the matter on Thursday, saying that “we are surprised by the fact that protests were announced before they even saw what was changing”. Regarding other planned changes, she said that people wishing to secure permanent teaching posts will be required to take written examinations, stressing that “there is no other legal way”, and warning that “if this is the only reason for the protests, the trade unions should think again”. Unions less than convinced by ministry’s plans Secondary school teachers’ trade union Oelmek leader Costas Constantinou, however, was less than impressed by the government’s latest proposal, saying that “at first glance, it seems that there are still serious issues which concern us, and it seems at first glance that our protest will proceed as planned”. He added that the unions expect to be sent the proposal’s full text, and that after taking receipt of it, they will meet and form a detailed written response to it. “It seems that the thorny and serious issues which he had raised in the public debate for a long time are not being satisfied,” he said before adding that the prospect of Thursday’s protest being suspended remains open, and that the unions will make a final decision on the matter on Wednesday. He stressed that “the most important thing that we have been bringing up in the dialogue for a very long time and repeating ourselves over is that we want to ensure the safety of all these colleagues who have worked in public school for years, have proven their worth, have been evaluated, have been trained”. However, he said, “from what we heard today, it seems that they are not being ensured”. Primary school union Poed leader Myria Vasiliou was even less optimistic about the prospect of the protest being cancelled, saying that “the prospects we expected do not seem to be emerging for us to be able to say with 100-per-cent certainty that there are grounds to cancel the protest”. The government’s plans foresee that all candidates to become teachers will take a written examination, with each candidate’s score in that examination to be combined with points allocated based on experience in the profession to give each of them a score. New appointments will be made from this list, which would completely replace the old system, on a staggered withdrawal that people with a degree registered with the ministry and waited to be called on.