Oelmek, the secondary school teachers’ union, is one of the main reasons public education has been in decline for years. For years, this union has been instrumental in falling education standards, defending anti-educational practices such as the criminal, waiting list system of appointments, promotions unrelated to performance and keeping inept teachers in the classrooms.

In exchange for this, they have seen their wages rise and their weekly teaching hours significantly reduced with hours of service, not to mention the very short school year we have in Cyprus. As a result, they are among the best paid teachers in the EU. When a survey was carried out a few years ago, only Luxembourg’s teachers were better rewarded. So, while the standard of living of teachers has been steadily rising, education standards have been moving in the opposite direction.

For years, education ministers have tried to stop the slide, by introducing a reliable evaluation system for teachers, but all have met the vehement opposition of Oelmek, which does not want its members to be subject to any form of evaluation, because meritocracy is anathema for the union. It supports the discredited system that gives the mark of excellence to all teachers, regardless of how lazy, inept and unmotivated they might be. The union certainly does not care about how badly students are let down by such teachers, who, in most countries would not be allowed into a classroom.

With the government deciding to introduce a proper evaluation system throughout the public sector, there were expectations that the teaching unions would, at long last, also agree to be accurately evaluated. The primary school teachers union, Poed and that of technical school teachers Oltek were both on board and initially it seemed Oelmek would also go along.

A few weeks ago, however, the union sent a nasty letter to Education Minister Athena Michaelidou, accusing her of ineptitude and of failing to address a host of issues that it had raised. It also charged that there had not been a proper dialogue about the evaluation system and that the proposals sent to it by the education ministry were incomplete. It likewise demanded that some 10 issues it had raised, including the placing of CCTV in schools and air conditioning units in classrooms had not been sorted out.

In other words because there were no AC units in all classrooms and no CCTV at schools, Oelmek could not agree to the introduction of an evaluation system. This is the type of deceitfulness the leaders of the teachers resort to prevent the evaluation of their work. It is quite disgusting behaviour that no society or government should tolerate. Surely the employer has the right – and in the case of schools, the responsibility – to evaluate staff to ensure each one performs their duties at an acceptable standard and in order to reward the best workers.

Oelmek does not recognise this right to its employer and at meeting onn Thursday of all its representatives, the secretariat was given the go-ahead to call a strike if by January 10 the minister had not responded satisfactorily to all the issues it had raised and not presented all the information she had been asked for relating to the evaluation system. The minister should stop engaging in any form of dialogue with the union, which has repeatedly proved its bad faith and submit the new evaluation system to the legislature for approval and let Oelmek call a strike. This is the only option.