School violence in Cyprus has reached alarming levels in primary schools, with 95% of teachers saying incidents have increased and more than a quarter considering leaving the profession, according to a survey by the Elementary School Teachers’ Union (POED).
The survey, conducted between March 30 and April 8 among 1,017 primary school teachers, found that 55% of respondents do not always feel safe at work and 53% do not consider school a safe environment for children.
Violence between pupils is widespread, the survey found. Verbal abuse was reported as frequent or very frequent by 63% of teachers, physical violence by 59%, vandalism by 31%, and cyberbullying by 13%.
Teachers themselves are also targets. Some 29% of respondents said pupils frequently or very frequently behave inappropriately towards teachers, 12% reported frequent threats of physical violence against teachers, and 9% said physical violence against teachers occurs frequently or very frequently.
The impact on classroom time is significant. Some 65% of teachers said disruptive behaviour seriously affects the quality of their teaching.
More than half said they spend at least six minutes of every 40-minute lesson managing such incidents, and one in four said they dedicate almost an entire period of non-teaching time each day exclusively to handling them.
Despite the difficulties, 58% of teachers said they frequently or very frequently feel job satisfaction and 64% said they feel they have a positive impact on their pupils’ lives.
Yet 65% said they frequently or very frequently feel exhausted by their work, 60% said they doubt they will last until retirement, and 28% said they are considering leaving the profession because of school violence and delinquency.
Support from parents and state services is thin, the survey found. Only 17% of teachers said they are satisfied with support from Ministry of Education officials and services, 14% with support from parents, and 8% with support from the Welfare Office. Satisfaction was higher for school-level support, with 62% satisfied with backing from their school’s management and 58% with support from colleagues.
Teachers identified inadequate family support (83%), excessive use of technology at home (78%), the absence of meaningful disciplinary measures (76%), and family and financial problems (75%) as the main factors driving school violence.
POED said the problem cannot be tackled with piecemeal measures and requires a holistic, systematic approach involving timely intervention by all responsible services.
The union has submitted a detailed proposal to the Ministry of Education focused on prevention and management of school violence starting from pre-school age.
Publishing the survey marks the launch of a ten-day awareness campaign by POED, which said its primary goal is to inform the public and pressure authorities to take meaningful action.
The campaign includes symbolic activities at schools, public information stands in town centres, football matches under the slogan “Red card to school violence,” and a nature walk under the slogan “Walking together: violence off the path.”
