Poed blames ministry for evaluation reform chaos

The unrest in the education sector is solely the education ministry’s responsibility, primary school teachers’ union (Poed) chairwoman Myria Vasiliou said on Monday.

Speaking on the teacher evaluation legislation, Vasiliou said that teachers want evaluation and would support a substantial change to its existing system.

“However,” she pointed out, “we want a correct and objective evaluation that improves existing distortions.”

According to Vasiliou, the education ministry has since May “unilaterally interrupted the process of social dialogue” and insists on passing a bill concerning teachers’ working conditions “without any agreement with the educational organisations.”

“In this entire process of amendments, the decisions are made for us, without us,” she said, adding that neither the ministry nor the MPs would be implementing the legislation in practice.

Despite Poed’s unanimous opposition to the bill, the union showed patience, acted responsibly, made concessions and accepted several ministry positions to improve the bill, Vasiliou said.

She added that despite Poed being a “responsible and serious organisation,” strikes became a necessary last resort measure “because the official side failed to convince of the correctness and essence of the reform, as parliament intends to vote on a bill that deviates from the positions of the organisation”.

Vasiliou questioned which version of the bill the government supported amid numerous changes from the May draft to the final plenum version, wondering if the support was purely procedural without regard for substance.

She also pointed out that the bill, costing €13 million annually, or over €60 million in five years, could have included policies that would “substantially” aid public schools.