Protesting teachers on Friday managed to circumvent police and storm the education ministry headquarters from a side door while a student event was taking place.
It was around 12:30 pm when a group of angry protesters took riot police by surprise and invaded the building through a side door while the second Panhellenic student competition entitled “Cyprus 1974-2015: I do not forget, I create, I claim” was in progress.
The protest rally started at 11:30 am with educators shouting the slogan “No to education cuts” and teachers climbing the education ministry railings, to be pushed away by police. Nursery, grade and high school teachers are against a bill announced by Education Minister Nikos Filis that substitute teachers will be hired to fill the gaps for the next school year.
A few hundred teachers had blocked the street in front of the education ministry entrance. The protest rally was organized by the Greek Federation of Secondary State School Teachers (OLME).
The federation claimed that Filis had asked that they don’t protest while the student event was taking place, while OLME replied that they don’t take orders from the minister as to when to protest.
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