Filenews 2 February 2022
The increase of the population in the Pafos district creates a problem of overcrowding in its schools, said the First Secondary Education Officer of Pafos George Koutsidis. As Mr. Koutsidis said, a large number of immigrants have gathered in Paphos and therefore, many are the students with a migrant biography who attend the city's Gymnasiums, while there is also a flow of students in general.
This entails, he noted, the continuous reversal of the staffing of schools on the one hand and on the other hand, the creation of housing problems in many of the city's schools and especially in the Gymnasiums.
Specifically, he said that there is an overcrowding of students at the First Lyceum of Ethnarch Makarios III, at the Ap High School. Pavlou, at the Gymnasium of Ag. Theodorou, at the Nikolaideio Gymnasium and the Gymnasium of Geroskipou, resulting in an urgent need to create a new Gymnasium in the north of the province.
He pointed out, however, that at the Gymnasium of Ag. Theodorou, after the conversion of the offices of the School Ephorate of Pafos into classrooms, the problem will be solved to a large extent.
At the Gymnasium Ap. Pavlou is expected, as he said, the construction of four new halls, in order to improve the situation and at the same time move all four prefabricated halls. Moreover, in Nikolaideio Gymnasium there is an acute problem and too much demand from parents for enrolment of their children in this particular school. As far as the Gymnasium of Geroskipou is concerned, he continued, it is expected that there will be an anti-seismic upgrade and the construction of new halls.
At the A' Lyceum of EthnarchIs Makarios III, suggestions have been made and an effort will be made to reduce the number of students. He also continued, the problem is more inflated with the students of the A' Lyceum who do not secure a place in Technical Education and return back to the Lyceum, resulting in problems of overcrowding and staffing of the school unit.
As far as the Nikolaideio Gymnasium is concerned, Mr. Koutsidis noted that the problem will be solved by the proposal implemented by the Ministry. Education in three phases.
We are still in the first phase during which the new A' Public Kindergarten is being built in a space that was granted by the guardian of Turkish Cypriot properties. The work will be completed, he stressed, around May. At the same time, a public tender has been announced by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs for the study of the conversion of the existing A' Public Kindergarten, in order to house the student population of the Z' Primary School, which with the appropriate conversions will become suitable for housing the students of the Nikolai Gymnasium, which is estimated to operate in the school year 2024-2025.
Also, after the actions of the District Office, it has been promoted to solve, as he said, the housing problem of the Ap High School. Pavlou and has begun a preliminary study by the competent department of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs for the construction of four new classrooms and a special education unit in the school.
He also announced that in the building stock of the Gymnasium of Ag. Theodorou, this week four more classrooms have been added, since as mentioned above, after the departure of the School Ephorate, the spaces where it was housed, have been granted to the school and with the appropriate alterations will now be classrooms.
He also said that the High School of Agia Paraskevi in Geroskipou is facing a housing problem due to overcrowding, adding that various actions are being taken towards the competent departments of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change for the implementation of the study that was done previously for the expansion and pedagogical redesign of the school building.
Mr. Koutsidis said that many efforts are being made, both personal and by the Ministry of Education, to solve all these problems that education faces and arise from the increase of the student population, despite the limited financial resources of the state.
Asked about how this year is going, Mr. Koutsidis described it as a year of challenges. In the midst of a pandemic, he said, "we are making the utmost effort not to deprive any child of the benefits of education but, at the same time, to improve the education system, providing the maximum possible degree of knowledge and skills necessary to involve children in the process of learning and in the formation of integrated personalities, ensuring their physical and mental health."
He also added that as it is the third consecutive school year in conditions of pandemic, it is suffering along with the whole society and educational community. Sure, he observed, both students and teachers are tired of implementing the anti-covid-19 measures, as in general and with the restrictions that exist more broadly in society, adding that many students are showing signs of detuning and difficulties in concentrating in the classroom.
He pointed out that the Ministry of Education is trying with various actions to immediately provide all possible assistance, noting that "we are operating in the midst of a pandemic and we are alert, but the experience we have gained, observing the health protocols and all the necessary protection measures is an important advantage compared to previous years".
He also described as an advantage the experience that teachers and students gained from the use of technology and its application in the process of learning through e-learning.
The "online school" cannot replace face-to-face contact and communication, but it is a learning process that opens up new horizons in education and that will undoubtedly continue dynamically in the future, as we are now faced with new educational challenges that we neither can nor have the right to ignore, he stressed. The experience and knowledge gained in the field of e-learning will now be valuable tools in the arduous struggle of acquiring knowledge. Tele-education is ultimately a new way of teaching and learning that seems to be here to stay, he added.
Finally, he added that no one can ignore the fact that teachers are currently depositing their souls and we as a society must acknowledge this. The messages that the educational community is currently passing on to the new generation and the wider society are valuable, concluded the First Secondary Education Officer of Pafos.
