Primary pupils return to school (updated)

The ministry of education stands by schools so children can have the best education, Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said on Monday.

She was speaking during a visit to the A’ Primary School of Ayios Lazaros in Larnaca on the first day of term for primary students.

The minister welcomed pupils back and said she wished the children “a good and creative year, in which they will be able to work with teachers to develop those abilities and skills […] taking steps towards a modern schooling.”

Michaelidou further expressed her satisfaction at visiting “a school with the infrastructure at the level it should be [and] caring staff and management.

“The ministry stands by their side so that the children have the best education,” she said.

The minister said no significant problems arose with the return to schools and the few that did are already being tackled.

“The problems are few and we are already on our feet to solve them. We didn’t have any significant problems, because my colleagues had done good preliminary work, we have made sure that the programmes are ready for implementation, the books are ready for use,” she said.

As for infrastructure, the message is being sent that constant betterment was underway, Michaelidou added.

She assured that any schools experiencing overpopulation, both primary and secondary, were being intensively supported “in various ways by changing catchment areas, and with many other pedagogical means”, so that better instruction can happen.

Earlier the minister also visited the 3rd Primary School of Aglantzia in Nicosia.

Data from the education ministry shows the number of children attending Year 1 for 2023-2024 reaching 9,323 up from 9,068 last year.

A total of 612 schools will operate, of which 329 are primary schools, 274 kindergartens and nine special schools. This includes the smallest school on the island, in the mountain village of Kambos where there are just four pupils.

The total number of pupils in these schools is 64,748, of which 51,371 are in primary, 12,853 in kindergarten, and 524 in special schools.

The number of primary teachers amounts to a total of 7,078, with 4,948 in Reception-Year 6, plus 973 in kindergarten and 1,157 special teachers dispersed among all grades.