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Classrooms will fall silent and tractors will take to the streets on Thursday as teachers and farmers stage coordinated protests, putting fresh pressure on the government over education reforms and the future of agriculture.
High school teachers and university professors will stop work from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., protesting the new teacher evaluation system. The unions POED and OELMEK, along with equality teachers, say responsibility for the growing unrest in education lies squarely with the Ministry of Education.
POED President Myria Vassiliou told the Cyprus News Agency earlier this week that tensions in the education sector have been building for months and are the result of ministry decisions. Technical school teachers, however, will not join the protest, with OLTEK staying out of the work stoppage. As a result, technical schools will operate as normal.
Education Minister Athina Michaelidou has urged restraint, saying everyone must respect democratic procedures. Parents’ organizations were less diplomatic, warning that disagreements between unions and the state should not be settled through strikes that affect students.
Adding to the disruption, student transport routes for both primary and secondary schools will not run in the morning. While absences in general secondary education will be recorded throughout the day, the ministry said they will not count against students.
Farmers on the move
Later in the morning, attention will shift from school gates to the streets.
From 10:15 a.m., farmers from across Cyprus will head to central Nicosia by tractor and other vehicles, converging on the Presidential Palace to deliver a resolution. The protest will continue to the House of Europe, where letters will be sent to the presidents of the European Commission and the European Parliament.
The demonstration forms part of a wider pan-European mobilization against the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). While the main protest is taking place in Brussels, farming groups in more distant member states, including Cyprus, are staging their own actions.
Agricultural organizations say farmers are being squeezed from all sides, rising imports, heavy bureaucracy, climate pressures, and plans to overhaul the CAP after 2027, including cuts to its budget. They warn that these policies risk pushing small farmers out of business altogether.
Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou said Cyprus, as part of its EU Council presidency priorities, is pushing for a stronger and fairer CAP that reduces red tape and better reflects farmers’ real needs.
Farmers’ leaders are unconvinced. Christos Papapetrou, president of the Cyprus Producers Association, said the European Commission’s proposals undermine the foundations of the CAP, the EU’s oldest common policy.
In Paphos, farmers will gather from 10 a.m. along the Timi road near the airport exit, where they plan to remain with their tractors.
Police said protesters from all districts are expected to assemble near the GSP Stadium and the Jumbo area in Nicosia before marching toward the Presidential Palace around 10:30 a.m.
With teachers off the job and farmers on the streets, Thursday is shaping up to be a loud reminder that frustration is running high, in classrooms, fields, and beyond.
