The education ministry and teaching unions have until November 5 to submit a plan for the teacher evaluation system reforms, The House education chair Pavlos Mylonas said on Wednesday.

Education Minister Athena Michaelidou outlined ongoing changes during a committee presentation, following discussions with educational organisations.

“Our goal is to move forward with the evaluation plan with full respect for the concerns and questions our teachers or anyone else may have,” she stated.

Mylonas said the negotiations with the unions, which started in June, had not reached common ground, with their proposals rejected.

After input from committee members and guests, Mylonas urged the ministry and unions to meet over the next two weeks.

The committee, which was due to have decided on Wednesday, extended the deadline to November 5, after which it will make a final decision.

The reform of teacher evaluation in Cyprus has been a long and contentious process. The system, largely unchanged since the 1970s, was deemed outdated and in need of modernisation to meet current educational standards and support teacher development.

By February 2025, the ministry presented a preliminary proposal centred on fairness, transparency, and scientific rigour. The ministry later revised the plan, reducing principals’ scoring power, restructuring appeals committees, and postponing full implementation to 2030-31.

Despite extensive consultations, teachers’ unions strongly opposed the reform, citing insufficient reflection of their core demands and concerns over administrative burden and evaluation fairness.

Tensions persist, with unions accusing the ministry of poor dialogue, while the ministry stresses the reform’s necessity to comply with EU standards and avoid financial penalties.

Michaelidou confirmed that over the following two weeks the ministry will discuss further with the education organisations, taking full advantage of the extension, but “always within the framework of the draft regulations”.

She stressed that full agreement and satisfaction of all requests is neither possible nor the goal of the talks.

“It is unthinkable today, in an era of rapid change, to continue with an anachronistic and unjust system, which does not reward effort, does not encourage development and does not promote improvement,” she said.

“Our society demands a modern, fair and effective school. And that is exactly what we are attempting.”