The Council of Ministers approved today a Proposal of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth (YPAN), to take measures to prevent and deal with violence and delinquency in schools.
After the end of the session, the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Ms. Athina Michailidou stated in her statements to the journalists: The Council of Ministers approved in today's meeting a series of specific measures concerning our schools and the issue of preventing violence and delinquency , which we have been talking about for quite some time.
The measures, which have been institutionalized through the Decision of the Council of Ministers, are limited to the role of the school. I mention this because we all know very well that the phenomenon of violence and delinquency does not only concern the school, it also concerns the family, society in general, it is a social phenomenon.
Nevertheless, recognizing the pedagogical role of the school and relying mainly on research results, which we heard at yesterday's press conference, in collaboration with the University of Cyprus, we are proceeding with the implementation of several of the recommendations of the research and the institutionalization of very specific measures.
These measures concern the support of the school, the pedagogical, that is, the empowerment of the management team of the school, so that it can recognize phenomena of violence and delinquency and, above all, record them on an electronic platform.
The implementation of the anti-racist policy at all levels of education is established and monitored. Concepts of civic education and peaceful dispute resolution and dialogue are introduced into the curricula.
As an example, I mention some of these measures, such as the introduction of specific actions, by each school separately in the context of the improvement plan of the school unit, related to issues of preventing and dealing with violence and delinquency. In simple words, each school is invited to plan such actions, which will be evaluated, in the context of the evaluation of the school unit.
Alternative learning programs are being designed for children with provocative delinquent behavior, so that we can give the opportunity to support the specific children, but also to have the right to regular schooling for all the rest.
The role of the Responsible Department as a nucleus for violence prevention is strengthened. The parents, the parents' network, are used, mainly through their links, but also in other ways, in order to help the school in its efforts, creating a network of information and protection.
New training programs for parents and teachers in the prevention and treatment of violence are being promoted. Here we should mention that the research of the University of Cyprus itself, which is carried out in collaboration with our Ministry, shows that where we have informed teachers, sensitized teachers and actions are prevented, we also have much lower rates of violence and delinquency.
Crisis management procedures in schools are simplified and this means a lot to us. They will no longer be time-consuming and those involved will know their roles and responsibilities. I am referring to the Immediate Intervention Team, which will operate more directly and through more simplified procedures, as well as the Educational Psychology Service.
We are strengthening the school mediation program. We include in our training others beyond teachers, parents/guardians and students, such as School Guards, who we better inform about their role.
We are evaluating pilot programs with the cameras and expanding them over time. In general, what we aim for is both to highlight the role of the school and to have immediate results.
All our actions will be evaluated at the end of each year so that we can monitor the progress of this effort and intervene effectively.
Let me stress that this is the first time we are emphasizing the school itself. We emphasize the roles within the school unit, so that there is immediate action, mainly at the level of prevention.
Also, I remind you that we have introduced, through a Cabinet Decision, programs to prevent violence and delinquency in Kindergartens, which we are evaluating. Finally, I emphasize that the measures are an example - a tangible and practical example - of the coupling of research with action and political decision", concluded the Minister of Education.
Afterwards, Mrs. Michailidou answered journalists' questions.
Asked what she means by supporting the school and strengthening the management team and whether the team will be strengthened with some experts in these matters, the Minister of Education said: "Let me explain exactly. In the school there is the group for the prevention of violence and
of delinquency. This concerns an assistant director and two teachers. Supporting and empowering them means bringing them to trainings, instead of just telling them they are responsible, explaining the crisis management process to them so they can take action right away at school. But above all, let's give these people the opportunity to be able to contact the Educational Psychology Service and the Immediate Intervention Team or other experts, so that they themselves feel empowered and can recognize first, and declare at a second stage , these incidents. Because you know that the issue of avoiding reporting these incidents lest there be a "bad reputation" for our school existed for many years. We are now supporting the school so that they can fearlessly report the incidents so that we can support them through all the ways I have mentioned before."
When asked if the school can manage these phenomena, Mrs. Michailidou said: "It is precisely for this reason that we have taken these measures, so that the school can act to a certain extent. We are already mentioning the extreme behaviors, the research shows a rate of 2%. Where and where we have extreme delinquent behaviors, to be able to operate with alternative programs, that is, the child can leave the school or the classroom, attend a parallel study program for a while and then come back, after having accepted the support. This is an international practice, which we should also implement in our educational system."
Asked if the measures will start from the new school year, the Minister of Education noted: "Most of them have immediate application from now, from January 2024 and regulation through a circular to schools. Some of them can also be introduced from September, where and where there are new programs, and they concern all levels".
Asked about the platform she referred to in her statements, Mrs. Michailidou pointed out that: "It already exists and we will encourage schools to add to this platform. It's the Violence Observatory
in Schools, and while the platform is there, it seems that it is not used by schools, for the reason we have mentioned before, that is, that the incidents are not easily reported.
When asked if she is worried that we are among the first pan-European, according to the research, which has been done in incidents of violence, Mrs. Michailidou noted: "No, the research does not say something like that. On the contrary, the research says that our results are similar to those of European countries. What the research says, and that's why we're here, is: "Do something in the school to strengthen its pedagogical role," and that's exactly what we're doing. Also, the suggestion of the research is - and it is put into practice with these measures - to strengthen the role of the management team and the teacher who is in charge of the class, in charge of the department. Who spends some time with the children and is an opportunity to discuss issues of mental resilience, etc., to make use of the mechanisms we have, as I said before, the Immediate Intervention Team, the Educational Psychology Service. Above all, what is very encouraging from the research is that those who went through training programs seem to have much better results than everyone else, which is why we are also investing in training all groups, even parents."