In the morning, students of the Voroklini Primary and Kindergarten went on a one-hour absence from their classes, who, together with supporters, parents, MPs of the Larnaka district and organized groups, protested the issue of not building a new Primary School in the Community.
The Mayor of Voroklini, Neophytos Fakontis, reported to KYPE that "the abstinence from classes and the protest were aimed at the construction of a new Primary School in the Community, regardless of whether a corresponding school will be built in Livadia".
He said that in the Primary School "there are 435 students, instead of 300, with 50 teachers, the facilities are few, while the art, economics and music rooms have been abolished in order to accommodate children to do lessons".
He added that "even in the multi-use room, students have been placed, a room which in the winter should be vacated since the gym class is held there and events are held. We have three solvable classrooms and we expect another one to be brought to us, we don't know when, in order to remove the students from this particular classroom."
Answering a related question, Mr. Fakontis said that "right now in Voroklini, which is the largest community in Cyprus, according to the latest census, there is so much residential development that we wonder where these new students will study. In case a decision is made to build a new school, it will take five years to start building and by then the number of students will reach 600".
He also stated that "the new school will be built on church land with the Church accepting the exchange with carpet land of equal value, as was done in the past with the community stadium. With this exchange the government will not spend money on land expropriation, it will just be an exchange of land."
Next week, he continued, "a meeting will be held at the Community Council with the participation of all the deputies of the province and the organized groups of the Community, in order to make a joint effort to the President of the Republic, the Minister of Education and the Education Committee of the Parliament. The goal is to resubmit our request that a new Primary School should be built in Voroklini, since there is an overpopulation of students."
Besides, Yannos Ioannou, representative of the Association of Parents and Guardians of Voroklini Primary and Kindergarten, told KYPE that "the specific problem dates back to 2007, when a request to build a new Primary School in the Community was approved due to an overpopulation of students. However, the matter was connected to the construction of Primary School C in Livadia and we ask that these two buildings be disconnected, since there are already more than 100 children in our school more than they should be attending".
He also noted that "teachers and students eat their food during breaks on the benches in the School yard because everything has been covered, even the parking spaces. The solution is not the transfer of other classrooms, but the construction of a new Primary School," he said.
To a related question, Mr. Ioannou replied that "essentially there are two areas that are owned by the Church and are being given in exchange of land to build the XNUMXnd Primary School. All the Organized Ensembles as well as the parliamentarians of the province of Larnaca agree with the disconnection of the construction of a Primary School in Voroklini and Livadia".
At the same time, he also referred to the "rapid housing development of Voroklini, as a result of which the children of several families have to attend school".
"We are asking for a separate school and unfortunately the Ministry of Education refuses to consider the matter and is oriented towards the construction of a Regional Primary School in Livadia, until its completion the positions will be filled, resulting in the need for another School again," he said.
It is noted that the event was also attended by MPs Prodromos Alabritis of DISY, Andreas Pasiourtidis of AKEL and Sotiris Ioannou of ELAM.
Source: KYPE