Turkish Cypriot school ‘celebrates’ milestone year in portacabins

The historic Lefka Gazi high school is set to begin its 75th year with classes taking place in portacabins, Lefka tourism association chairman Hasan Karlitas said.

A total of 21 portacabins have been erected at the school to house its 350 pupils, with the existing school building set to be demolished in February next year.

However, as Karlitas pointed out, “there are also scientific opinions that it should be reinforced.”

“We wanted to see the [school’s] earthquake safety report. We could not. The building which they say they are going to build has not been planned or budgeted for yet!” he added.

Earthquake safety reports were written on all school buildings in the north following the deadly earthquakes which hit southeastern Turkey last year.

Schools where buildings have been deemed dangerous have been moved to portacabins, with the Lefka Gazi high school no exception.

However, Karlitas expressed frustration over the timing of the move, and the fact that new school buildings may take a long time to construct.

“Of course, children’s safety comes first, but there are 15 days until the schools open. If they do build a new building, it will not be ready for at least three years. People need to be correctly informed on these issues,” he said.

Karlitas’ comments come after Cyprus Turkish teachers’ trade union (Ktos) leader Burak Mavis also criticised the use of portacabins as school buildings.

“Portacabins have ceased to be a means to an end and have been turned into an end goal. They have even been placed in schools where the buildings are structurally sound but that are overcrowded,” he said.