Parents in Cyprus are raising concerns over strict early departure rules at all-day schools, with some withdrawing their children from the programme because they cannot collect them in time for extracurricular activities or therapy sessions.
Speaking on SIGMA’s Protoselido programme, Yiannos Ioannou, president of the Pancyprian Confederation of Primary Education Parents’ Associations, said the problem was not new but had become more pronounced this year as children’s need for afternoon activities increased.
Strict departure times leave parents with limited options
Ioannou explained that Ministry of Education instructions prevent school headteachers from allowing children to leave before the designated departure times, even when the difference is just five minutes.
He cited the case of a child who stopped attending the all-day school programme because the child’s father could not collect them at 15:00 and was required to wait until 15:05.
“One child after another is leaving the all-day programme for this reason,” Ioannou said.
Parents request an additional departure time
Ioannou said the issue had already been raised with both the parliamentary Education Committee and the Ministry of Education.
Parents have requested an additional fixed departure time, such as 14:30, to give families greater flexibility while maintaining a structured timetable.
According to Ioannou, they were told the request would be examined, but no solution has yet been provided.
Therapy appointments also affected
The restrictions at Cyprus all-day schools are also affecting children who need to attend therapy sessions.
Ioannou referred to a complaint from a mother who pays for speech therapy for her child but is unable to take the child to appointments because of the programme’s departure rules.
Parents are seeking greater flexibility to allow children to continue attending all-day school while meeting their educational, extracurricular and therapeutic needs.
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