While public kindergarten teachers were protesting on Wednesday outside the Presidential Palace against government plans for compulsory pre-primary education to be extended to the age of four a compromise solution on this was reached in Parliament.
Specifically, House Education Committee MPs and Education Minister Prodromos Prodromou unanimously agreed on an amended bill that was submitted by opposition parties Diko and Edek.
The two amendments pave the way for the government to secure the money from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Fund but to also protect the public school system.
Specifically, education in public and community kindergartens should come first and only when there is no place for them in one then they will be referred to private kindergartens with a grant based on criteria.
At the same time, the Ministry should be developing public school infrastructure to accommodate the needs of children and ensure their right to be provided with public education. New public kindergartens and/or expanding existing ones should be the plan.
