The Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth recognizes the multiple forms of diversity in schools and aims to ensure an environment of inclusion, safety, respect and equality for everyone, said the responsible Minister Athena Michailidou.
In her greeting at the award ceremony of the schools that distinguished themselves in the competition "Peaceful resolution of disputes and the value of dialogue", which took place in the morning at the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Michaelidou said that "our highest priority is to build together a society based on equality and respect", and he pointed out that the implementation and participation of everyone in actions such as those that framed the rationale and implementation of the competition is significant in this direction.
He pointed out that the desire of the Ministry is for students to be able to fully enjoy the educational opportunities offered to them in an inclusive and democratic school environment, free from any form of violence.
"We believe that the participation of your schools in such a competition contributes to the formation of literate citizens with social skills, responsibility, democratic ethos, but also respect for the value of the uniqueness of each person. It creates a learning and teaching process to acquire knowledge, to develop attitudes, perceptions and social skills, to express behaviors that promote and ensure human rights, justice and equality,” he said.
At the same time, the Minister noted, through the competition the necessary interaction between the school, the community and the wider state is caused and the values of democratic participation, inclusion, creativity, innovation and zero- tolerance to any form of violence and warmly congratulated everyone for their participation in this very important competition.
Mrs. Michailidou also congratulated the school principals and the teachers for the opportunity to express themselves through innovative actions, as well as the officials of the School Violence Observatory, the Educational Psychology Service and the officials of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order who worked for the implementation of the Competition.
He assured that the Ministry of Education will continue and intensify its efforts, plans and cooperation with all the agencies involved, in order for the school environment to be a healthy and safe environment which will primarily prevent, but also effectively manage the resolution of disputes and will defend human rights.
Referring to the competition, she said that its aim is to promote pedagogical practices in the context of its policy to prevent and deal with the phenomena of delinquency and violence at school and falls within the framework of the National Strategy for the Prevention and Management of School Violence of the Ministry of Education , Sports and Youth and the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Combating of Crime of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order.
Saying that conflicts are a natural part of human interaction and the classroom is no exception, Ms. Michailidou said it is extremely important for educators to understand the dynamics of the phenomenon in order to effectively manage conflict situations.
"Every time students manage differences in a constructive and peaceful way, they develop problem-solving skills, effective communication and empathy, while the overall learning experience is of higher quality. Peaceful resolution of differences in the classroom is essential to creating an environment of respect, trust, inclusion and cooperation and leads to a better understanding of the other's perspective, as well as the development of basic social and emotional skills,” he said.
Mrs. Michailidou also noted that in a class based on dialogue, students from being passive recipients of information, actively participate in their own education and that the dialogue in the class encourages them to ask questions, document and share the their opinions, to contribute to collective knowledge.
He also stated that as part of its anti-racist policy, the Ministry of Education adopts the principles of democratic dialogue and promotes the peaceful resolution of disputes, demonstrating zero tolerance for aggressive behavior or racist discrimination related to special and distinct characteristics.
