Strict measures were agreed on Wednesday after an incident on Tuesday, when students from Larnaca technical school threw objects, including olives, inside their school bus, forcing the driver to stop and call the police.

Police intervened on Makarios avenue and identified six students involved, who are expected to give statements with their parents.

A meeting was held at the school Wednesday morning, from 9am to noon, with representatives from the secondary education parents’ federation, parents, the school management, the relevant education ministry department and Larnaca police.

President of Larnaca parents’ association, Costas Costa, said: “There is a common denominator, which is the seriousness of both this specific incident and others that occurred in the past.”

He added that impunity has emboldened some students to continue such behaviour.

“A joint decision was made for both the school and the police to proceed immediately with investigations and statements, to resolve the case and end this phenomenon.”

Costa also referred to previous incidents involving the same few students, highlighting a pattern of recurring delinquent behaviour, and called for decisive action.

The meeting resulted in strict measures aimed at preventing a recurrence of Tuesday’s events. For the first time, an official complaint was filed against the students.

“We hope that during the investigations and interrogations by the police and other competent authorities, nothing untoward will happen and that most of the students who were on the bus will not ‘pay the price’, instead of the 5–6 who started the episode.”

The case will be referred to the attorney-general’s office for further action.

Last week the education ministry announced new measures – including fining parents of errant students – to try and tackle incidents of delinquency on school buses