Kamu-İş union reports a shortage of 415 technical workers in TRNC schools

The Kamu-İş public-sector employees’ union held an action and press conference in front of the TRNC Ministry of National Education, stating that schools in Northern Cyprus are short of 415 technical workers responsible for cleaning and maintaining buildings. Three days remain before the start of the school year — classes begin on September 14.

Union chairman Ahmet Serdaroğlu said that the union had come to the ministry building because the problems were not being resolved and did not appear likely to be resolved in the near future. Teachers held an action outside the ministry the previous day, while school employees gathered there today.

The union’s main complaint is the contractor-based system for servicing schools. According to Serdaroğlu, tenders for this work are conducted as a formality, while in practice contracts are handed to contractors, meaning that instead of 415 people being paid for their work, the money goes to a single intermediary.

Serdaroğlu noted that staff shortages and the constant turnover of workers disrupt children’s routines and the educational process, while the employees themselves lose stable employment. He also said that contractors hire people without proper screening, and recalled previous incidents in schools: in his view, if anything similar happens again, the ministry will be responsible.

The union came to the ministry with a banner reading “Neither the oppressed nor the oppressors — a humane and just order” and called on the ministry to resolve the issue together with the unions, based on the public interest rather than private interests.