Teachers’ unions begrudgingly agree to meet Michaelidou over new appointment system

Teachers’ trade unions on Monday said that they will meet Education Minister Athena Michaelidou to discuss the government’s planned changes to the way in which teachers are appointed to roles in state schools, but that they will do so “with concern” and that they are “not particularly optimistic” about the meeting. Poed, Oelmek, and Oltek jointly stated that the current state of affairs was “created by distorted legislation”, but that the government’s planned reforms would “create even more distortions”. Instead, they said, the government should “submit a fair and comprehensive proposal”, and warned that if no agreement is reached, they will go ahead with their planned protest outside the presidential palace on Thursday. Poed leader Myria Vasiliou confirmed that all three unions had received an e-mail from Michaelidou informing them of the planned meeting, which will take place on Tuesday, but said that the e-mail had stated that the unions will be presented with a “proposal” and not a piece of legislation. Related Articles • Teachers to receive revised appointment system proposal on Tuesday This, she said, constitutes a “communication trick”. Meanwhile, Oelmek leader Costas Constantinou accused the ministry of “playing games”, and said that Michaelidou had agreed on September 11 to submit to the unions a proposal within 10 days. “When you give a pupil a deadline and you do not keep it yourself, you lose your credibility,” he said, before saying that “nobody checks whether things have been done” by the education ministry after promises are made. At this point, Vasiliou said that “the goal is a bill which touches on all aspects”, before saying that the delays highlighted by Constantinou are “more than dangerous”. More than 100 teachers’ contracts ‘unclaimed’, union leader says Oltek leader Panayiotis Lysandrou said that the planned protest “sends the message that we want a proposal which will satisfy all the demand we have made”, before adding that his union is concerned that the government’s current proposal would reduce the number of people being appointed as teachers each year. Later, Oelmek leader Andreas Mavratsas warned against the prospect of asking existing teachers to take new theory examinations to receive permanent posts, describing the idea as “unacceptable”. He also said that more than 100 new contracts in full-day schools remained “unclaimed” this summer “due to the insecurity caused by the new system among teachers”. Given this to be the case, he said, “full-day schools are on life support due to this situation”. Earlier, Michaelidou had promised that her reforms will both support teachers and improve learning opportunities for children, and stressed that “this is not an administrative or trade union matter, but an issue which concerns who enters classrooms and subsequently, the future of our children”. “Public education needs to transform our collective responsibility into active participation in efforts for its modernisation,” she said, adding that “education changes through its people”. 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.