Teachers union blasts minister, warns of action
Teachers’ union Oelmek on Friday launched an unprecedented attack against the education minister in the wake of her move to regulate performance-based evaluations. In a scathing statement the secondary teachers listed a slew of outstanding iss
Teachers’ union Oelmek on Friday launched an unprecedented attack against the education minister in the wake of her move to regulate performance-based evaluations.
In a scathing statement the secondary teachers listed a slew of outstanding issues in education in which it said the minister had “failed” to resolve.
It added that the letter over evaluations was fundamentally flawed.
The dispute flared up after Education Minister Athena Michaelidou sent an initial letter outlining the matter of teacher evaluations, which her ministry has committed to setting in stone.
But Michaelidou accused the union of evasion, saying she had initiated a staged negotiation with the aim of reaching a consensus, which the union had rejected.
But Oelmek head Demetris Taliadoros criticised its contents as incomplete and said the letter was rife with omissions.
“The minister insists on operating piecemeal, sending out partial information,” Taliadoros said, speaking on CyBC’s morning programme.
He added that the union could not be in a position to evaluate the minister’s plan until a comprehensive document was received, which responded to the union’s concerns. These include who is to be designated as the evaluating authority.
Oelmek had earlier responded to the minister with a missive outlining the ministry’s failures and saying Michaelidou was in the habit of “glossing over issues to hide her mistakes.”
“The minister has failed on at least ten promised items for the improvement of public schools,” Taliadoros said.
These included basics, such as the installation of air conditioners, he said, charging that the ministry had yet to provide even a timeframe for the completion of this task.
He also accused the ministry of “preferential treatment of private schools” and a lack of oversight in that sector.
“The ministry of education ought to be the champion of the institute of public education,” a duty in which Michaelidou was remiss, Taliadoros added.
Among other failings, Oelmek highlighted the issue of delinquency, installation of cameras and guards, upgrading of state training institutes, and understaffing, which it said afflicted 20 per cent of schools.
The union warned of an “intense reaction” if it did not receive a response to its concerns by January 10.
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