Education sector workers protest

Workers in the support programmes of Cyprus’s Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth held a protest outside the ministry building on Wednesday morning. They demanded that the entire period they had actually worked be recognised and that their employment be continued. Representatives of the protesters handed a memorandum containing their demands to the Director General of the Ministry of Education, Marios Panagides. Panagides said that the ministry was in constant contact with workers’ representatives and trade unions and was working to resolve the issues raised. He noted that legislation had recently been adopted providing for employees who meet the established criteria to be transferred to indefinite-term contracts.

According to him, the relevant procedures are already under way, and the ministry intends to announce the recruitment of staff for the implementation of support programmes as soon as possible. In addition to workers already transferred to indefinite-term contracts, employees on fixed-term contracts are also expected to be hired, in line with the ministry’s needs.

Responding to a question about delays in payments, Panagides confirmed that some workers had been without pay since June. He said that the Ministry of Education had sent the Ministry of Labour a list of employees eligible for unemployment benefits, and that the two ministries continued to seek a solution to the problem. Andreas Markidis, a representative of the protesters, said that support programme workers had been working in this field for years, but that their service was counted separately for each project. According to him, many employees had been moved from one programme to another at the decision of the Ministry of Education itself, meaning that some of them are now unable to obtain indefinite-term employee status.

Evgenia Andreou said that many employees who had already obtained indefinite-term status also remained without an actual income during the summer months. After the end of the academic year, they receive neither a salary nor unemployment benefits because of the terms of their employment contracts. Andreou demanded an immediate meeting with all the responsible authorities so that workers could receive specific answers and practical solutions could be found. She stressed that employees were demanding an end to employment uncertainty, recognition of their entire period of work and guarantees of continued employment.

Elena Mitella, a teacher with an indefinite-term contract, said that such workers had found themselves in an unusual situation: formally, they had the status of indefinite-term employees, but they signed contracts for only nine months. At the same time, permanent teachers with indefinite-term status receive a salary throughout all 12 months.

According to Mitella, a number of teachers were transferred to indefinite-term contracts on 21 April, but they do not receive unemployment benefits and are not entitled to a 12-month salary. She called on the leadership of the Ministry of Education to find a solution that would allow this category of workers to receive benefits during the summer months.