Filenews 4 May 2023 - by Evangelia Sizopoulou
There have been 250 incidents of delinquency in schools since 2022, according to the Assistant Chief of Police, Ioannis Georgiou. Speaking yesterday during the meeting of the Education Committee of the Parliament on the possibility of installing security cameras in schools in order to protect public property, following the latest horrific incidents recorded in high schools, Mr. Georgiou said that the biggest trend of these phenomena occurs in Nicosia. At the same time, he pointed out that the Police have no objection to the installation of security cameras, stressing however that the phenomenon of delinquency must be effectively dealt with by other measures.
During the examination of the issue, all stakeholders agreed that in addition to addressing and suppressing these phenomena, which occur mainly during the hours when schools are out of operation and during the periods when they are closed, a collective effort is needed in the field of prevention, agreeing with the relevant position of the competent Minister of Education, Athinas Michaelidou. At the same time, everyone sees positively the possibility of installing closed surveillance systems with security cameras in schools, as a measure to prevent delinquent behaviours that occur, but focused on the need for this measure to be implemented under the right conditions and in combination with other measures. In fact, what the Ministry of Education will examine in cooperation with other bodies at a meeting to be held next week is the continuous lighting and increased guarding of schools.
For her part, the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection, Irene Nikolaidou-Loizidou, told the committee that she is ready to give the green light to the installation of cameras in schools as long as all the conditions of legality are ensured and clarifications are provided on specific points, which she has already raised. Among them, are the opening hours of the monitoring systems, who will see the images that will be recorded, who will have access to this material, etc.
The Minister of Education, in her own statement, said that violence is a multifactorial phenomenon that needs to be addressed at different levels: individual, family, school and social. "Nevertheless, in this context, all relevant actors of our society need to develop appropriate actions immediately in order to effectively prevent and address issues of violence through coordinated and systematic actions. Actions should be the result of integrated planning and not isolated or spasmodic," Michaelidou said. Also, referring to the pillar of prevention, which she described as very important, the Minister said that a specific strategy will soon be submitted by the Ministry of Education.
It is worth noting that Ms. Michaelidou also referred to the railings and high fences that have been installed in recent years, following a decision of the previous government. Specifically, the Minister of Education spoke of images reminiscent of prisons and in combination with uniformed, in some cases, guards, send wrong messages to children.
Both on the issue of dealing with the phenomena that concern and on the need for prevention, all the bodies represented yesterday in the Education Committee as well as the Members of Parliament agreed. It is noted that the initiative for the registration of the issue was taken by the MP of EDEK, Andreas Apostolou, however, all MPs agreed and as a result it was registered as an ex officio examination upon the recommendation of the Education Committee.
The president of OELMEK, Konstantinos Konstantinopoulos, described juvenile delinquency as a very serious issue that needs a comprehensive policy, noting that the organization calls for the placement of guards in all Gymnasiums as an immediate measure that can be implemented. Lenos Loizou spoke on behalf of OLTEK about the need to take measures that do not negatively affect children, focusing also on the great importance of prevention.
The president of POED, Myria Vassiliou, noted that the issue is serious and of great concern to teachers, while at the same time, she reminded that the decision to place guards in primary schools is not successfully implemented. This is because, when the decision was taken, it concerned one hour of guarding in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. This, combined with the unsatisfactory payment of guards, resulted in the measure not being successfully implemented.
On behalf of the trade union Equality, Alexios Savvides focused on the importance of prevention, saying that the issue should be examined in two pillars: The hours when the school operates and the hours when it does not operate and delinquent behaviours occur.
Organized parents are also positive about taking immediate measures. On the side of secondary education, the president of the Confederation, Loizos Constantinou, noted, among other things, that he is in favor of installing cameras in schools and taking additional measures to ensure the safety of school premises. The president of the Confederation of Parents of Primary Education, Frixos Zebylas, also referred to guards in primary schools and what is happening, while stressing that violence in schools is a multidimensional chronic problem, which must be addressed.
In another development, he reopened the issue of legislation passed in 2020 on issues of delinquency in schools and which, as is known, remained in the drawers of the Ministry of Education as it was not implemented by the previous government. Asked about this, the Minister said that there are points that need changes so that the legislation can be activated, while she made a commitment soon to bring it back to Parliament for the changes needed.
Cameras have already been installed in schools
In the context of the discussion, another aspect was given, namely by the head of the School Boards and president of the Limassol School Committee, Dinos Ellinas. As he said, cameras were installed in 17 schools in Limassol in 2010, 2011 and 2012 when there was an increase in delinquency. As a result, he said, the vandals destroyed them and did not leave a single one. According to Mr. Ellinas, the installation of cameras alone cannot work but what will bring results, as he said, is proper guarding in combination with more frequent policing of schools.
In the meantime, the committee was told that there are already public schools (very few in number) that have installed CCTV as they often fall prey to offenders. The competent Commissioner commented on this issue, saying that if there is now a closed system in public schools, it is illegal and everything should be applied with the same principles and parameters.
In a report by MPs that in private schools where there are cameras, delinquency phenomena are not recorded, the Commissioner said that there were cases where the necessary interventions were made in order to apply the legality and the relevant principles of the legislation. He referred to cases where sound was also recorded, which is expressly prohibited.
INTERVENTION
From words to deeds
Since yesterday's discussion in the Education Committee of the Parliament, we keep the good will of everyone to cooperate in order to address the serious phenomenon of delinquency that occurs in several of our schools, with the catastrophic consequences that we are all aware of. A productive discussion took place, without tensions – although the issue is very sensitive – with all stakeholders concluding that it is necessary to immediately protect school properties but also to focus on prevention. The prevention that we all hope will save us from future trouble. Even if some of the actors may have different views or even if they do not very much believe that we will see results with what was discussed, they want to give the opportunity to do something. An effort. And that is very important. So, now that we have said it and said it, we expect actions and results.
