Newsroom
Cyprus’ primary school teachers have drawn a line in the sand. The Cyprus Greek Teachers’ Organization (POED) has rejected the Ministry of Education’s final proposal for a new teacher evaluation system, and they’re even considering strike action if the government tries to push it through.
At a heated meeting in Nicosia on October 16, POED’s representatives said the plan, submitted to Parliament earlier this month, conflicts with their core principles and fails to fix the problems of the current system. Instead of improving teaching, they warn, it could “reproduce existing distortions” and lead to results opposite of what’s intended.
What’s behind the resistance?
POED argues that the proposed system puts too much focus on control rather than support. It gives school management teams expanded power to judge teachers, relies heavily on external evaluations, and leaves major details to a vaguely defined “Monitoring Committee,” a body with no clear decision-making process.
The union insists evaluation should be pedagogical, holistic, and fair — not a top-down tool that blames teachers for wider problems like limited resources, outdated materials, and structural inefficiencies. They say education quality can’t rest solely on the shoulders of teachers while the system itself remains under strain.
POED is urging Parliament not to debate or vote on the bill and demanding that the Ministry return to “substantive, sincere, and institutionally safeguarded dialogue.” If not, they’re ready to escalate.
So the question now is: Why is the Ministry so determined to pass an evaluation system that the very people being evaluated say doesn’t work?
