Secondary schools in Larnaca are overcrowded as authorities delay building new premises and making repairs to existing buildings, the federation of parents’ associations of Larnaca secondary and technical schools said on Monday.
In an announcement, the federation said that authorities have long known about the increase in the number of pupils at specific schools but failed to act.
As examples the federation cited the protracted delay regarding the Dianellio Technical School which has been abandoned for more than 10 years, yet no-one knew when a new school will be built.
“Whereas we were asking for the number of pupils per school to be reduced, for new staff rooms so that special rooms, such as art rooms, can be used for lessons, we have reached the point of having a deterioration of teaching and learning conditions,” it said.
Existing school buildings could not cover even the basic needs of a modern school, since the number of pupils in some schools was rising without a parallel increase in infrastructure such as classrooms, bathrooms, and common areas; nor had there been an increase in staff or maintenance, it added.
This undermined the idea of fair and equal access of all pupils to education, said the federation. Indicatively, because of increased demand, the number of forms without their own dedicated classroom would increase – for example at Livadhia gymnasium these will rise from eight to 21.
Temporary solutions were not the answer, the federation said as they pleaded for urgent decisions to build new schools.
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