Teaching unions hope minister will solve dispute over twice-yearly exams

Teaching unions Oelmek and Oltek said on Saturday that they expect Education Minister Athena Michaelidou to meet with them and find a solution to twice-yearly exams, which have been heavily criticised.

The general secretary of Oelmek, Costas Hadjisavvas congratulated Michaelidou on her appointment to the position of minister and said that he hoped they would be able to work well together and solve the problems in public schools.

“Our organisation declares its readiness and willingness to engage in a dialogue with the new education minister, with the aim of resolving important educational issues,” he added.

Hadjisavvas said that for the union the greatest problem is that of the twice-yearly exams, which has created a lot of problems, including the loss of teaching time.

“Consequently, Oelmek’s position is that the January exam should definitely be abolished, that is, what we are asking is that the exam be one and the central exam could be for all classes at the end of the school year and cover both terms, but with limited exam material,” he said.

Meanwhile, the general-secretary of Oltek, Lenos Loizos said that in the technical school sector the biggest problem they are facing is that of staffing.

Loizou said that they expect the minister to solve this issue, and that of the twice-yearly exams.

He added that students need to be evaluated in a correct way and the right decisions need to be made.