Oelmek demands urgent measures to protect schools

State secondary school teachers’ union Oelmek on Wednesday called for immediate measures to protect schools following the latest fire at a high school in Nicosia on Tuesday night.

“Oelmek condemns in the strongest possible way the new incident of arson,” the union said.

Oelmek said it had contacted the education minister asking for effective measures to be implemented immediately, not only in the schools where the latest incidents occurred, but in general.

“The repeated incidents of vandalism and destruction of schools outside their opening hours demonstrate in the clearest way the inadequacy of measures to protect school infrastructure,” the teachers said.

Oelmek was reacting after a fire on Tuesday night destroyed the staff room at the Ayios Stylianos school in Strovolos. Two fire trucks responded from the Lakatamia station and the fire was brought under control within an hour.

That followed two fires at school in Nicosia over the Easter period that saw four rooms damaged in one, and the music school in another.

President of the Limassol School Board, Dinos Ellinas suggested that if schools were to bring in the community on a regular basis after hours and on holidays for other activities, the presence of people would deter would-be delinquents and vandals.

“As Oelmek, we are at the disposal of the state to contribute with specific suggestions to the prevention and treatment of such incidents, which we note that we have repeatedly submitted in recent years,” Oelmek concluded.