Drums of war in education: Teachers ready for drastic measures amid the new appointment system

The drums of war are beating in the education sector against the backdrop of the new appointment system. For the teachers’ unions, patience has run out, which is why they are preparing to take strong countermeasures.

POED, OELMEK, and OLTEK have already scheduled meetings of their governing bodies to make decisions. The 100-member Council of the teachers’ union will convene next Monday, at which time measures are expected to be ratified on two levels: strike action, which will then be formulated jointly with the other two organizations, and internal measures, which will involve the Ministry itself.

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“These will range from strike actions to other measures that will last for the entire year. Unfortunately. The Ministry of Education still has time to reconsider.”
_{Haris Charalambous – General Secretary of POED} 

On Thursday, November 19, the central Executive Boards of OELMEK and OLTEK will meet to make their own decisions.

“All measures are on the table, but I want to emphasize once again—since we’re talking about the job security of our colleagues— you understand that the measures we may need to take could be anything.”
_{Konstantinos Konstantinou – President of OELMEK}

“Unfortunately, we haven’t received any invitation from the Minister, nor have we received any response from the President regarding our request for a meeting. Therefore, we must chart our own course.”
_{Lenos Loizou – President of OLTEK}

The three organizations, which cite a lack of respect following the Ministry’s decision to open the bill for public consultation through November 18, have already requested a meeting with the relevant Parliamentary Committee and have decided to initiate a new round of discussions with the political parties.

The Ministry of Education, in a statement issued a few days ago to address these concerns, made it clear that the government’s proposal ensures the possibility of appointing teachers already serving in public schools and offers fair opportunities to the new generation of teachers.

Watch the report by Rafaella Stavrinou: