Teachers to protest outside presidential palace

Members of the teacher’s unions Poed, Oelmek and Oltek will gather outside the presidential palace on Thursday to protest the new teacher appointment system in public schools. “[The education ministry] does not create any room for cancelling the mobilisation,” the unions said in a statement, adding that “the proposal does not provide a substantive response to the anguish of thousands of teachers”. The unions argued that the proposal had failed to ensure the job prospects of teachers and did not address the “injustices” created. “The creation of a ‘closed registry’, which will lead to temporary appointments without a real prospect of permanent employment, is not a solution, and they speak of perpetuating job insecurity,” the unions said. Related Articles • Minister presents new appointments plan to teachers’ unions • Teachers’ unions begrudgingly agree to meet Michaelidou over new appointment system • Teachers to stage protest over appointment system Education Minister Athena Michaelidou, in remarks on Wednesday, said that the ministry did not view the situation as being in a state of deadlock, and that a consultation process was underway. She also spoke of a “fair and balanced” proposal that considered teachers with previous experience and those who have already passed the exam. “We delivered our updated proposal yesterday [Tuesday] and gave a week for the teachers’ organisations to comment in writing,” she added. “I cannot know why they are dismissing the updated proposal as well. What I want to stress is that our proposal is fair and balanced, it takes into consideration the people who have been working at the schools […] and those who have just passed the exam,” she said.