Filenews 29 January 2021 - by Dora Christodoulou
Teachers and social actors of Paphos insist and bring back the issue of the need to operate a second Technical School in the city, due to the unprecedented demand of recent years and the inability of the existing one to absorb all interested parties. The mobility for the decision to establish a second Technical School of Paphos continues regardless of the recent changes with the transfer of parts of the school to the Lyceum of Agios Charalambous Embas, which now functions as both a Technical Department, but also, despite the economic setback brought about by the pandemic, in the state plans for development and infrastructure projects throughout Cyprus.
Institutions of the province consider the development of the transfer of departments as a half-measure that does not address the problem and call for a political decision to create and operate a second normal Technical School, since the demand in Paphos is constantly increasing and the unprecedented decision in educational time has already been recorded in the last three years to reject applications from students for their studies in the technical sector due to lack of capacity.
Over the last eight years, these factors estimate, there has been a continuous increase in students in the province of Paphos, who choose to attend Technical Education.
"Unfortunately, however, this increased demand cannot be met, since throughout Paphos there is only one Technical School", they stress. "The huge increase in the demand for places in Paphos Technical is due, among other things, to the practical training and development of the practical intelligence of students, to the systematic, organized and targeted work carried out, but also to the significant improvement of the results in the Cyprus Examinations".
The Technical and Vocational School of Education and Training of Paphos currently has 595 students, despite the fact that the possibility of the School is for 500 students. This, local authorities say, creates serious problems for the school's operation. All the other provinces of Cyprus have three Technical Schools each, they point out, which allow all students of these provinces to attend the sector and speciality they wish. They argue that the operation of some specialities in the high school of Emba is a rough solution, which will not solve the problem, but will give superficial answers.
"So immediately and without further ado, a new Technical School in Paphos should be planned," they say. "Then the project could be divided into two phases. The first phase will be implemented immediately, so that the new Technical School can accommodate about 250 students. If in a few years, the number of students who choose Technical Education continues to increase, then the implementation of the second phase should proceed. Thus, at a lower cost, the construction of a new Technical School can be carried out immediately. At the same time, the students of Paphos will be given the opportunity to make the choices they want, while at the same time they will have the same opportunities as their classmates in the other provinces of Cyprus.".
