POED and OELMEK are forming a united front against the Ministry of Education’s proposal to abolish the list of candidates for appointment, warning of serious distortions and unprecedented staff shortages in schools. Speaking on the program “Alpha Summer,” the presidents of the two organizations expressed their strong disagreement with the Ministry’s plans, calling for the protection of teachers with many years of service.
POED President Myria Vassiliou described the Ministry’s proposal as long overdue, emphasizing that the parallel implementation of the two lists (50%-50%) has been crucial for staffing elementary schools. As she explained, there are only 300 teachers available on the list of eligible candidates, while actual needs and replacements total 1,500.
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“We’re waiting until the last minute to fix things with a belated proposal. We’re leaving people who are already in the system—with teaching experience—in limbo. In Cyprus, where we have people who love what they do, we’re leaving them out in the cold,” Ms. Vassiliou noted, announcing that decisions would be made by the organization’s Board of Directors in late August.
In the same vein, the President of OELMEK, Konstantinos Konstantinou, emphasized that the Ministry is not merely abolishing the list of appointees but is also fundamentally changing the list of eligible candidates. Highlighting the scale of the problem, Mr. Konstantinou noted that last year, out of 330 openings for language teachers in secondary education, only 23 were filled from the list of eligible candidates.
“The list of eligible candidates was the safety net to prevent staff shortages in our schools. If those on the list didn’t take their posts, we wouldn’t have teachers in our schools. If these people cannot be secured, we, too, will oppose the abolition,” he emphasized, adding that these are teachers who have supported the system at personal and family cost.
Teachers’ organizations are calling for a substantive dialogue without unilateral decisions, in order to prevent further injustices and ensure a smooth start to the new school year. OELMEK will meet on August 24, while crucial meetings with the Minister of Education are scheduled for August 27 and 31 to finalize the positions of all parties involved.
