Delinquency “starts in the family”, Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the opening of a new sports hall at a school in Paphos, she said that “not all children can have a police officer or a teacher each”, but said that the government has “put in place must stronger rules” to fight against juvenile delinquency.

Those new rules, she said, include that there must be “a committee within the school for juvenile delinquency, a liaison with the police for substances as well, and everything else”.

She also said the government is “working with cameras and guards”, but then added that “this is not the role of the school” because “the role of the school is preventative”.

“We have put in place many programmes in pre-schools. If we had done it for many years, we would have had much better results in secondary schools as well,” she continued.

She then said that it is “never too late”, and that “our goal for a safe school remains”.

To this end, she said her ministry is “starting the new school year with optimism”, before saying that “the small issues which occur every year and concern staffing have been resolved”.

“We believe that there are no particular problems,” she said.