There is no other country in the world in which parents’ associations of schools and teaching unions dictate the admissions policy and the courses of public universities. Union mentality is so deeply rooted in Cyprus society that these groupings, because of their big memberships, have come to believe they have the right to dictate how autonomous, public universities should be run and, worse still, nobody dares challenge this outrage.

We witnessed this toxic unionised arrogance once again this week when the confederation of parents’ associations, in alliance with teaching union Oelmek, threatened action to prevent the legislature’s approval of the bill that would allow public universities to offer English language undergraduate courses. The confederation met on Friday and threatened to close schools if it did not receive the assurances it demanded from the education minister.

Expressing vehement opposition at the House education committee meeting which was examining the bill, the president of the confederation, Loizos Constantinou said: “Is it possible for the legislature to cede the right to decide the admissions criteria of public universities to the university senates?” But who else should decide the admissions criteria if not the university senate? Teaching unions? Parents’ associations? The education minister? The church?

The concern of the confederation is not so much the English language courses, but the fact that these would open the way for the admission of students from private schools on the strength of their GCE or IB results. It claims that this would penalise public school students who sit the supposedly more difficult Pancyprian exams to gain entry to public universities. “We are talking about a huge injustice against the children who toil to secure a place at a university through the Pancyprian exams,” said Constantinou.

Admissions at public universities have been the subject of debate for nine years with Oelmek and parents, aided by political parties, making a big fuss about an attempt by University of Cyprus (UCy) to offer places on courses that had not been filled to students from private schools. It is the union mentality wanting to maintain the closed shop to protect its unique selling proposition – mediocrity. Oelmek did not want comparisons to be made between private school students and those of public schools because this would reflect badly on the poor teaching at public schools, which is largely to blame for the declining standards of public education.

Now, Oelmek is using the parents to fight its cause, the confederation repeating the union’s well-worn argument that the new admissions policy would deal a big blow to the public schools and must therefore be opposed by all means. UCy rector, Tasos Christofides, pointed out that the public school would not suffer a blow if public universities offered foreign language courses, given that “the problems of public schools are caused by other factors, such as an anachronistic system and the afternoon lessons industry.”

How union-minded of them that the parents are implicitly demanding keeping standards low and feeling threatened by a change in the public universities’ admissions policy, instead of demanding the raising of standards at public schools. The biggest threat to the public schools are indolent, demotivated, unaccountable teachers whose powerful union has ensured public schools serve its members rather than students.

These are the teachers who sell their students short in the classroom so they can give them afternoon private lessons to maximise their earnings. And Oelmek has for years been blocking education ministry attempts to introduce a reliable evaluation system for teachers because it wants to protect its worst performing members, regardless of the harm their poor teaching causes students. The education minister was the target of shameful abuse from Oelmek when she tried to introduce an evaluation system recently. It is the union which fought against the twice-yearly exams and had the system scrapped because it was too much work for its pampered members.

And if proof were needed for the poor public education standards it is provided by the very low ranking of Cypriot students in international educational surveys carried out every few years. Can this be blamed on the public universities’ plan to offer foreign language undergraduate courses and accept students from private schools, something which has not happened yet?

Parents are being foolish by directing their anger at public universities and adopting the Oelmek position which is exclusively aimed at protecting the interests of the teachers. The biggest threat to the public school, which has been in decline for years, comes from work-shy and entitled teachers who have always placed their pursuit of an easy working life above the interests of their students. And they have been extremely well-rewarded for this lack of effort and professional pride.

The Confederation of Parents’ Associations should be fighting for the drastic improvement of standards at public schools through the modernisation of teaching methods, which remain in the 1960s, and the strict evaluations of teachers instead of campaigning for the closed shop in university admissions that safeguards the poor educational standards. Parents must demand more for their children from public schools instead of protecting the mediocrity that self-serving teaching unions champion.