A total of 435 teachers and professors are seconded to various positions, including the Ministry of Education, the Presidential Palace, the Church, Deputy Ministries, Committee offices, and even embassies like that of Moscow.
The secondments were discussed during a House Audit Committee session on public education expenditures.
Auditor General, Odysseas Michailides, noted that funds allocated for education are increasing without corresponding improvements in outcomes. “This signifies a waste of resources,” he stated.
He highlighted that during 2020-2021, there were 305 seconded educators. “Many received promotions while on secondment. We have requested and are awaiting data for those seconded before 2014,” he said, mentioning educators who have been out of the classroom for up to 20 years.
Michailides referred to three cases where female teachers followed their spouses, who were ambassadors and were seconded abroad, receiving allowances.
Furthermore, based on data from the Audit Office, there are 206 seconded teachers (the oldest from 2002), 189 secondary school teachers (likely the oldest from 2006), and 39 technical education teachers.
Some of these individuals are at the Ministry of Education, others in the Deputy Ministries of Innovation and Social Welfare, in the offices of Administrative and Children’s Rights Committees, at the Academy of Letters and Arts, at the Theological School, in the Church, at the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and in the Embassies of Moscow, Bratislava, Sorbonne, and the Presidential Palace.
“If secondments occur outside of education, they are illegal,” Michailides noted.
On the other hand, Education Minister Athena Michaelidou pointed out that some secondment positions must be maintained. “The need for secondments will never end,” she said, as they require practical experience from the classroom to shape policies.
However, the Minister stated that what needs to change is the long-term secondment. The goal is also to reduce secondments of executives, such as directors, and to create positions for Educational Programming Officers.
It was also clarified by the Ministry that not all secondments are full-time, with some individuals being absent for specific days of the week. It is specified that the hours of secondment for these 435 individuals correspond to 275 teaching hours.
The House Audit Committee, besides detailed data on educator secondments, requested the preparation of legislation and regulations to govern this practice.
