There is “a serious lack of long-term planning for school infrastructure” scientific and technical chamber (Etek) president Constantinos Constanti said on Tuesday after an Audit Office report said some prefabricated classrooms have been in use for over a decade.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Constanti said prefabricated classrooms can be used for “emergency and temporary needs” but “cannot be a permanent solution to schools’ housing needs”.

He called for a comprehensive assessment of school housing needs and the construction of new school facilities, or the “well-planned” expansion of existing schools, where necessary.

“The quality of school facilities is not a luxury. It is a basic prerequisite for quality education,” Constanti said. “Therefore, the answer cannot be the continuous addition of temporary classrooms.”

Constanti’s comments come a day after an Audit Office’s report found shortcomings in the planning and oversight of school infrastructure.

An increase in number of pupils and children with migrant backgrounds in some areas, as well as expanded compulsory pre-primary education, are among the factors that have led to overcrowding in some schools, according to the report, leading to prefabricated classrooms being used.

Auditor-general Andreas Papaconstantinou noted that the use of prefabricated classrooms in general was not the issue, but rather “that solutions introduced as temporary have, in some cases, become permanent”.

In response to the report, Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said prefabricated classrooms are necessary in cases of overcrowding while permanent school buildings are upgraded or expanded.

“There is nothing negative about having prefabricated classrooms where there is overcrowding because they help us implement our education policies,” she said.

Michaelidou argued that the ministry has effectively delivered new school buildings in the past three years following decades of neglect, and said efforts will be “intensified even further” in future budgets.

Constanti acknowledged some government efforts in upgrading school buildings, and said that “architectural design is an integral part of the quality of education”.

He also pointed to research showing that “the quality of the built environment” impacts student learning and wellbeing.

The Audit Office’s report is part of a wider audit into school safety. A second report on electrical installations is expected to be published on Wednesday.