Member of the European Parliament Fidias Panayiotou on Monday called for a protest at Nicosia’s Eleftheria Square against the government’s ban of mobile phones from schools.
He said the protest would take place on Tuesday at 1pm, calling on “pupils, parents, and teachers” to participate in what he called “a peaceful protest”.
“Our initiative aims to make pupils’ voices heard with respect and understanding. This is not a confrontation, but an opportunity to start a meaningful dialogue between pupils and the state,” he said.
“We believe that the discussion around mobile phones should become an occasion to hear pupils’ opinions and find solutions which will unite and not divide. Education must be based on communication and mutual understanding, not on the imposition of measures which cause reactions.”
He added, “this protest aims to open a dialogue which will help give pupils the tools to respond to the modern world, fostering an educational process which will promote a love of learning.
“We want to improve our education system, with the pupil’s voice at the centre, as this is the foundation to build more pupil-centred schools. One change can lead to many positive developments.”
He then called on Education Minister Athena Michaelidou to “listen to pupils’ needs and stand by them instead of against them”.
“The protest will be completely peaceful and composed, being an initiative for pupils to express themselves without tensions or conflicts,” he said.
The education ministry issued a swift condemnation of the protest on Monday afternoon, saying it will “not only undermine schools’ smooth operation, but will endanger pupils’ right to learn”.
“Educational policies are formulated with the well-intentioned interest of pupils in mind, and with the aim of ensuring a safe and efficient learning environment,” the ministry said.
It said it “condemns” the protest, and called on pupils to “approach the matter with maturity and responsibility”.
Parliament voted last Thursday to approve the government’s move to ban mobile phones in school, with pupils now required to have their mobile phones switched off throughout the school day should they have one on their person.
Michaelidou had said at a House education committee meeting at the end of last month that the use of mobile phones in schools “creates stacks of problems”, adding that break times “create opportunities for children to abuse mobile phones, and that leads to delinquent behaviours”.
“Mainly, what we are interested in is their mental health, apart from their physical health, and that has to do with dizziness, headaches which have happened, that have been reported, isolation, alienation and the correlation of smartphone use with low learning outcomes, all of this is important. This is why we had to intervene,” she said.
