The informal draft of the bill was discussed on Tuesday in the Parliamentary Committee on Education in the presence of the Minister of Education and Culture Costas Kadis, who spoke about a very important step and expressed the hope that the bill will be approved at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers. and officially in Parliament.
Mr. Kadis spoke about a bill, which changes the anachronistic way in which recruitments are made to date in the education system and instead of the year of submission of the first degree takes into account quality criteria, such as experience, qualifications and knowledge which will be certified through examinations.
He added that the bill also deals with particular sensitivity with the group of non-permanent teachers currently serving in the education system through a series of relevant provisions. He also added that the criteria introduced are completely inviolable, measurable and in no case allow outside intervention.
He also stressed that the new bill opens a window of opportunity for tens of thousands of young scientists to claim a place in the education system, something that, as he pointed out, with the existing appointment system is completely impossible.
"It is a very important step that will contribute to having quality teachers in our education system because teachers should be selected with quality criteria," he said, noting that all political forces, despite their comments, will be discussed in future sessions. showed the need to change the existing system.
He also reminded that two of the three educational organizations OELMEK and OLTEK have accepted the philosophy of the bill and that the consultation with POED continues with the hope that there will be a positive outcome.
"If the issue ends up with the closing of the Parliament for the summer holidays, we will all give a positive service to our place", he said concluding.
Party reactions
As DISY, we welcome this decision of the Government to submit this bill, said the Chairman of the Education Committee, George Tassos, adding that this is "a timeless request, which takes shape and moves towards the solution of this serious problem." which has plagued the Republic of Cyprus for decades ".
As he said, the suggestions of the Ministry, from what was clear from the text, are in the direction of solving and the serious problem of the contract teachers, who will be employed by the majority according to the plan submitted by the Government.
"It is a fact that there may be a small problem for some, who may not be employed, but the intention is to solve this problem," said Mr. Tasou.
"As DISY we will support the effort of the Government so that we have a list of appointees-appointees that meets the requirements of the times, that is, the most suitable teachers are in the right place, to bring the learning outcomes that are necessary for the good of of our children ", he concluded.
AKEL MP George Georgiou said that the existing system of appointments in education has exhausted its limits and indicated that with the help of the new system and the elaboration of the new program schedule and teacher training will be implemented a reform absolutely necessary for the upgrade of public school.
He said that there are elements that modernize the new appointment system and improve the situation compared to the original proposal, however there are still some criteria that need to be improved with the main goal of appointing all teachers who are either contracted, substituted or part-time, so as to ensure a quality presence of teachers in the classrooms.
"We will examine in more detail in the coming days the proposal that will be officially submitted by the Council of Ministers and we will take a position based on the fact that the best and most capable teachers enter the classrooms and on the other hand do not victimize people who worked for many years. education, "he said.
DIKO MP Athena Kyriakidou said that the need to change the system of appointments in Secondary and Primary Education has been discussed for many years and it is the obligation of the State to introduce the best teachers in schools.
"There are points that we need to study in terms of the time of implementation, the transitional provisions, the expiration time of the transitional provisions with the aim and purpose to try through these timetables to satisfy as much as possible these people who worked for education all these years and we would not want in any way to wrong them in the difficult times that our country is going through ", he added.
"We are ready to satisfy them, to conclude, because this issue must change because we all agree that the way teachers and teachers are appointed in Secondary and Primary Education must be modernized. Also, this issue is directly related to the timetable programs as depending on the timetable, the positions that will be opened in Secondary Education will be ", he added.
Establishment of a Quality Assurance Body in Higher Education
In the context of today's session, the issue of Creating a Quality Assurance Body in Higher Education was also discussed.
"This is an issue that has been discussed since 2008 and it seems that we are reaching a conclusion", explained the Minister of Education, noting that now the final positions are left to take the issue to the Plenary Session of the Parliament and expressed the hope that this will happen very soon.
He also noted that the establishment of the Agency is expected to ensure the level of higher education provided in Cyprus and is a crucial step that will contribute to the upgrading of Cyprus as a regional center of higher education.
He said that a constructive attitude was shown by the political parties and that with small possible differences the bill will be brought to the Plenary, while he finally expressed the hope that the whole issue will be closed before the summer holidays.
Source: KYPE