Nursery school workers across Cyprus went on strike on Tuesday, demanding better pay and conditions.

Their trade unions, Paseu-Peo and Ouuk-Sek, said on Tuesday morning that they had sent various proposals to improve their working conditions to the education ministry since 2023, but that the education ministry “offered no response or indication of progress”.

They decried what they described as a “degradation and gradual shrinkage of nursery schools”, and the job losses faced by teachers and school assistants in recent years.

In addition, they pointed out that an agreement signed in 2018 which foresaw the transfer of control of nursery schools to school boards was not implemented, despite the fact that this “would have solved many of the current problems”.

On the matter of salary, they described a pay rise as a “need” and said that a circular issued 13 years ago which regulates their terms of employment and operation is now “anachronistic”.

The unions apologised to families and working parents, “particularly those belonging to the working class”, for the disruption caused by the strike.

However, they said, “the responsibility for it lies solely with the competent bodies, who have not done even the minimum to safeguard an institution of enormous social importance”.

The education ministry responded later in the day, saying it is “ready to present a coherent proposal and enter into a dialogue with all stakeholders on the issue”.

It added that it had invited teachers to “withdraw the strike measures and continue a dialogue which had begun in January”, but did not receive a positive response.

“We fully understand the suffering caused to the families affected by the current strike,” it said, adding that it “firmly believes that dialogue is the only way to resolve disputes and promote solutions”.

“At the same time, we are ready to present a coherent proposal and enter into a dialogue with all the stakeholders involved, in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation for the benefit of children, families, and the teachers themselves.”