Union challenges education ministry over rejected research leave

The ISOTITA Trade Union’s Educational Sector Council has officially contested the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth regarding its refusal to grant a one-year unpaid leave to a teacher with 25 years of service. The educator sought the leave to conduct a postdoctoral research project focused on the integration of refugee children into schools, a project that is fully funded by a €120,000 grant from the European Regional Development Fund through the THALIA 2021-2027 program.

The research proposal was selected by the Research and Innovation Foundation out of 195 candidates with a high score of 14.33 out of 15. The union claims that the Ministry's denial violates its own internal circulars and was issued in September without sufficient justification. ISOTITA warns that the ongoing refusal puts the entire €120,000 in European funding at immediate risk, as the project cannot proceed without the researcher’s participation.

Demanding an immediate reversal of the decision, the union insists that the Ministry approve both the unpaid leave and the requested private employment permit in accordance with the existing regulatory framework. Failure to comply, according to the union, threatens the successful implementation of this critical social integration study.