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- MPs said the growing reliance on temporary classrooms reflects poor planning, ageing infrastructure and long-standing school construction shortages.
- The Education Ministry said a register of prefabricated classrooms exists and that the 2027–2029 budget allocates €120 million for new schools and extensions.
- Safety checks showed 492 schools sought electrical certificates, with 444 issued, 42 awaiting reinspection and six assessed as unsatisfactory.
- Fire Service inspections covered 546 schools over three years; 113 received fire safety certificates, while others still had observations to address.
A total of 469 prefabricated classrooms are being used in Cyprus’ public schools, as MPs raise concerns about inadequate planning, ageing infrastructure and gaps in health and safety checks.
The figures were presented on Thursday during a House Audit Committee meeting examining two 2026 reports by the Audit Office on prefabricated classrooms and health and safety inspections in schools.
According to DIKO MP Chrysanthos Savvides, citing the Audit Office report, 400 prefabricated classrooms are used in primary and pre-primary education, while another 69 are in secondary education.
MPs criticised the Education Ministry over what they described as a lack of comprehensive planning, arguing that the growing reliance on temporary classrooms reflects long-standing problems with school infrastructure.
MPs question school planning and funding
AKEL MP Nikos Kettiros said the Education Ministry did not maintain up-to-date figures on prefabricated classrooms. He also questioned the distribution of school construction projects, arguing that some areas had several schools while others continued to face shortages.
Kettiros said land had been expropriated in Dromolaxia 25 years ago for a school, but no decision had been taken to build it.
ELAM MP Polys Anogyriatis called for a clear timetable for replacing prefabricated classrooms and said political responsibility extended to successive governments.
ALMA movement leader Odysseas Michaelides also criticised the planning and delivery of public works, arguing that the Education Ministry’s technical services continued to use outdated methods for implementing construction projects.
€120m planned for new schools and extensions
Education Ministry official Giorgos Koutsidis said schools across Cyprus had accommodation needs. He added that a register of prefabricated classrooms existed, although its figures changed each year.
The three-year budget for 2027–2029 provides €120 million for building new schools and expanding existing facilities, Koutsidis said.
AKEL MP Christos Christofides argued that the current situation reflected years of policy decisions and insufficient infrastructure investment. He said the budget for technical services was slightly below its 2010 level, while construction costs had almost doubled.
He called for a plan to gradually replace the temporary classrooms with permanent facilities, either within existing schools or through the construction of new buildings.
Questions over planning and permits
An Audit Office representative, Michalis Vasileiou, said planning permission should be required when prefabricated classrooms were effectively being turned into permanent solutions.
A representative of the Town Planning Department said approval was required even for prefabricated classrooms, but no applications had been submitted to the department for their installation in schools.
The discussion also highlighted concerns about how classrooms were positioned. Savvides cited a complaint involving Kykkos Lyceum in Paphos, where prefabricated classrooms had reportedly been placed next to neighbouring homes, affecting residents’ privacy.
He also described cases in which classrooms had taken up school playground space or been positioned in ways that raised questions about their suitability.
Fire safety certificates remain a concern
Officials provided figures on school safety checks, with questions raised about outstanding inspections and certification.
The Electrical Services representative, Antonis Charalambous, said 492 schools had approached the service for certificates of suitability. Certificates had been issued to 444 schools, 42 were awaiting reinspection and six had been assessed as unsatisfactory.
Fire Service representative Christoforos Stylianou said 546 schools had been referred for inspections over the previous three years. Of those, 113 had fire safety certificates, while the others had observations to address.
He also pointed to a gap in the legislation concerning building permits during school construction. Savvides said public schools were not legally required to hold fire safety certificates under the current framework.
Representatives of parent associations stressed that schools must meet children’s needs and called for all school facilities to obtain the required fire safety and suitability certificates.
Debate over the causes of classroom shortages
Savvides said the number of prefabricated classrooms had increased significantly over the years. He attributed the pressure partly to population growth linked to children from migrant backgrounds and the expansion of pre-primary education.
Christofides said temporary classrooms were being used to compensate for serious shortages in school facilities, while also questioning how construction funds were distributed among school boards.
Michaelides argued that both funding constraints and delays in implementing planned projects needed to be addressed.
The Finance Ministry’s representative told the committee that the ministry had no direct role in deciding how the Education Ministry allocated its budget, while noting that education budgets had increased significantly over the past decade.
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