About 30,000 lessons in Northern Cyprus were disrupted due to strikes

The Union of Teachers of the Turkish and Cypriot Education System (KIBTES) announced that during the 2024-2025 academic year, due to the negligence of the ministry and the strikes and actions of the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot Secondary Education Teachers’ Union (KTOEÖS), about 30,000 lessons were lost in the secondary education system.

The union’s statement noted that the ministry failed to address infrastructure deficiencies in schools, took no steps to implement full-day education, and that outdated conditions on school buses caused accidents. The statement said students became the victims of this situation.

The union emphasized that the right to education, which is protected by law, cannot be taken away under any pretext.

The statement added that besides policy negligence in education, the strikes and protests created chaos in schools, exposed weaknesses in the security system, and led to an increase in disciplinary violations.

It was also noted that teachers who did not participate in the strikes were burdened with additional workload.

The statement reminded that KTOEÖS gave the Minister of Education a "fail" grade in a representative report card and claimed that the union leadership also failed in areas such as "respecting students’ right to education, scientific contributions to education, timing of strikes and actions, contribution to the Turkish Cypriot community, and teacher representation."

The statement reads: “As KIBTES, we emphasize that our students’ right to education is sacred; that educational and preparatory activities should not be interrupted for ideological reasons or union insistence; and that the ministry should identify problems in education with all stakeholders and work proactively to ensure stability and sustainability in education and to guarantee that parents can send their children to school with confidence.”