The absences of teachers are being treated and made up and in the last two days children have not been left without education, either with replacements or with various other procedures, said the Minister of Education Prodromos Prodromou, speaking after informing the Parliamentary Committee on Education about the issue.
Stating that there is a lot of pressure on schools due to the pandemic, he said that when it comes to replacements, they mean the procedure followed by the Education Service Committee, which is established by special regulations. When we hear, he said, that 100 teachers were missing and 70 have been replaced, it does not mean that the positions for the remaining 30 have not been filled. There are, as he said, procedures and ways in the Ministry of Education that are being replaced.
He also called on educational organizations to stop making public statistics that create false impressions, which show a difference between absences and the number of replacements.
He added that the effort continues, it is an ongoing struggle and superhuman efforts are made by teachers and school principals.
The Minister of Education also stated that through proposals of the Ministry of Health that were led today to the Council of Ministers, there will be a new process of dealing with close contacts in order to greatly facilitate the work in schools.
At the same time, he expressed optimism that the operation of the schools and the attendance with physical presence will continue normally.
The Chairman of the Education Committee, DIKO MP Pavlos Mylonas said that they received many complaints about the situation in schools due to the outbreak of the pandemic and that they will be informed about the issue next Friday in an extraordinary session in the presence of the Minister of Education. He called on all state forces to assist in improving the education and examination conditions of the students.
As for the four-month exams and the request for postponement, he said that they will see how the data will be formed by next Friday and will calmly evaluate the issue, especially for the senior students, who attend exams for their future under these conditions.
AKEL MP Christos Christofidis said that the situation in schools is very difficult due to the objective difficulties that exist but also due to the lack of planning, sloppiness and dialogue of the Ministry with the stakeholders. He spoke of children staying at home as cases or close contacts without real educational employment, of children preparing to take critical exams while their teachers are not in school.
He also spoke of very serious shortages of teachers and said that there are no replacements and replacements because there was no proper planning.
He noted that while all stakeholders demanded that the four-month exams be postponed because such a thing would be a pedagogical crime, unfortunately the unexplained guilt of the Minister of Education and DISY led to the situation we are in now.