On Thursday, October 15, at a meeting of the parliamentary control committee, it emerged that the Ministry of Education is installing prefabricated classrooms in schools without the necessary planning permit. Deputies, parents, and teachers raised questions about overcrowding and safety in schools.
A representative of the Department of Urban Planning and Housing told the committee that the ministry does not submit applications for permits. He added that if it did, they would be reviewed and approved within a reasonable time. The need for a permit was also mentioned in a recent report by the Audit Office, and its representative repeated this at the meeting.
The committee considered reports by the Audit Office on prefabricated classrooms and on health and safety in schools. According to the Audit Office, 469 prefabricated classrooms are currently in use: 400 in primary school and 69 in secondary school.
Deputies, parents’ representatives, and teachers told the committee about schools where several classrooms on the upper floor use a single staircase. The question arises: how will so many children be able to exit in an emergency? In some schools, prefabricated classrooms that have become permanent have also been divided — because of this, about one meter remains from the teacher’s desk to the blackboard.
According to them, some schools, mainly kindergartens, were filled with prefabricated classrooms in order to accept younger children after the lowering of the age for the mandatory start of school. Because of this, almost no space remains for playgrounds.
Of the 492 schools that asked the Electrical and Mechanical Services (EMS) to check their equipment, 444 received a certificate, 42 are awaiting re-inspection, and six did not meet the standards and did not receive a certificate.
Of the 546 schools that requested a fire safety inspection, 113 have a certificate, and the Fire Service made specific remarks on 428. When asked whether there is a real risk due to equipment in schools, the EMS representative replied that there is not.
Vice-president of the primary school teachers’ union POED, Apostolos Skouroupatis, raised safety issues. He gave the example of a school where there were problems with equipment last year. He also pointed to conditions in special schools: classrooms are used for other purposes, and space is so limited that lessons and sessions with specialists are held under staircases.
Vice-president of the secondary school teachers’ union OELMEK, Kyriakos Mattheou, said that prefabricated classrooms have become permanent. In one school they even cut down trees to free up space because there was no other.
“The situation is suffocating, we cannot work,” he said.
Representatives of the Ministry of Education, including the directors of primary and secondary education and a representative of the Technical Services, said that schools have a need for premises, and prefabricated classrooms help to cover it temporarily. According to the committee, the problem is especially acute in kindergartens and is expected to intensify in the coming years due to the lowering of the school starting age. A representative of the Technical Services said that expanding existing kindergartens is very difficult, so new ones will have to be built.
Deputies noted that the ministry does not have an overall plan: where, in which areas, and when new schools will be built. They asked that this information be provided to them immediately if it exists.
Source: en.philenews.com
https://cyprusbutterfly.com.cy/news/minobrazovaniya-kipra-stavit-sbornyie-klassyi
