The government and Minister of Education may have set closing the front that opened with the Church in relation to the religious studies course in schools, however for classes to take place the schools must first operate. It is not the first time that schools open up in theory, when in practice many are underperforming or do not open at all due to the staff shortages.
The situation is worse than ever with tens of schools suffering from major teaching staff shortages. Even the appointment of substitute teachers that was announced last week will not solve the problem, since most of them will not be placed before the end of October. The situation in remote areas and special schools in particular is more than tragic.
Thousands of students are expected to miss almost two months from the school year with a profound impact on the education process. Not to mention the suspension of operation of day schools and the problems this causes to thousands of families that do not know what to do.
The previous political leadership at the Ministry of Education has a major responsibility, as it preached one thing, while sweeping everything under the rug, without a care for the upcoming consequences. Because despite the given financial problems, there were solutions, so long as someone sought them out, so long as there was a rudimentary plan to manage the situation. However the priority was to take care of some of ‘our people’, rather than cover the school shortages.
Even now, within such a tight framework, it is imperative to mobilize and fix what they can and not waste any more time. The younger generation has paid dearly for the foolishness of politicians; they do not need to pay any more…
TO VIMA
