Cyprus education ministry says school violence services understaffed
The ministry has told parliament that its five school support services need more permanent staff, with the Educational Psychology Service rated "very low" on staffing adequacy.
Cyprus's Education Ministry has told parliament that the services tasked with preventing and handling violence and delinquent behaviour in schools require additional personnel, as official figures indicate a growing number of incidents. The admission came in a written reply from Education Minister Athena Michaelidou to AKEL MP Christos Christofides, who chairs the House Human Rights Committee, as reported by Cyprus Mail.
The ministry listed five bodies involved in supporting schools: the Educational Psychology Service, the Counselling and Career Education Service, the Health Education and Citizenship Committee, the Observatory on School Violence and the Immediate Intervention Team. Staffing adequacy for the Educational Psychology Service was described as very low, while the Immediate Intervention Team is receiving a rising volume of requests for help.
According to the figures submitted, the psychology service has 52 permanent employees, including 49 educational psychologists and three managers, plus 19 staff on indefinite contracts and five on fixed-term deals. Limassol and Paphos district offices lack a senior educational psychologist, and in the counselling service a single teacher may be responsible for two or even three schools.
"The heavy workload of both management and frontline staff undermines the quality of the work provided and leaves insufficient capacity for the necessary supervision of operations at both levels," Michaelidou said.
What it means for residents
For families whose children need psychological or counselling support at school, the practical effect is slower responses and less preventive work, since stretched staff spend most of their time on assessments. Parents who spot warning signs of bullying or distress should not wait for a scheduled visit.
- Ask early. Requests to the district special education committees and school counsellors queue up, so raising a concern in writing creates a record and a place in line.
- Know the gaps. In Limassol and Paphos there is no senior educational psychologist at district level, so escalation may take longer.
- Follow the debate. Staffing decisions sit with the ministry and parliament, and the issue is now on the record through a formal parliamentary question.
This text is written from the source article and is not a translation of it.
