The Cyprus Turkish Secondary School Teachers' Union (KTOEÖS) has called for an end to the practice of assigning teachers from Turkey to schools in the north and for hundreds of teachers awaiting appointment to be hired. In a written statement, union president Ahmet Karaoğulları argued that the Education Minister and the UBP-DP government were choosing to bring in teachers from Turkey instead of opening vacancies and making appointments.
The union said the practice harmed both teachers and students and pointed to a series of alleged incidents in schools. According to the statement, threatening and insulting messages posted in social media groups by teachers assigned from Turkey to the Hala Sultan Theology College in 2023 were reported in the press. Karaoğulları also claimed that a teacher who had worked at the same school for five years, and who faces allegations of sexual assault and abuse against a student, was caught while attempting to leave the island.
KTOEÖS said the Ministry of Education had failed to investigate either case, adding that the union itself had filed criminal complaints with the police over both. The statement also said a lawsuit had been filed against a guidance counsellor at a primary school for allegedly making false statements about a pupil's parent, and that the then undersecretary had written on 20 September 2023 that the ministry had no authority to open an inquiry into that teacher.
The union further claimed that religious education teachers assigned over the years had adopted approaches driven by ideological aims, detached from pedagogical principles and harmful to students' wellbeing. It alleged that a similar incident took place a few weeks ago at Nicosia Turkish Maarif College and criticised the ministry for sending the teacher concerned back to class without launching an investigation.
The statement also raised recent reports that a guidance counsellor at Değirmenlik (Kythrea) High School, said to have been assigned from Turkey, was caught by police while using drugs. The union urged the Ministry of Education to open an investigation immediately and to examine the communication of those involved with students.
KTOEÖS argued that responsibility for the incidents lies with those who decided on the assignments and with the ministry and government tasked with overseeing the process, claiming that teacher shortages were being filled through unsupervised assignments. The union stressed that the future of children and young teachers must not be wasted.
