EDON Bulletin - April 2015

«I

f the church committee, enters the church during the day and takes anything, they are thieves.

If I enter at midnight by breaking the door and take anything I am not a thief.

I am an administrator. This is something I want everyone to understand. I am here to manage. Who ever does not like that, should get out.

Well, this is the Archbishop of Cyprus.

It not that no one expected such a behavior or did not had him as capable of acting in this way. He is capable of everything. He supports the other mighty, the ultimate God ( no comments), as a great party leader. But indeed getting the church’s money without asking, that is god-fearless. Tkaing the money to exchange it with bond of the Elliniki Bank while at the same time ceasing the members of the Church Commiittee that opposed to him?

How much money did you take? he was asked.

“I will take all of it” he replied. “I will not leave a single cent in the accounts of the Church of the Holy Mother of Trachonas! I am the administrator!”

This is democracy! Take it everything your beatitude! Everything!

He has transformed himself to an employer of the economical elite, forbidding any trade unions to enter his premises (MEGA channel).

He behaves as an entrepreneur, owner, director and shareholder. A small shareholder though, as Irena, (yes the Irena that we all know of), has mas him a pity shareholder...

Anyway, the role of the Archbishop has been explained and analyzed in many instances. Now though, instead of being a supernumerary and a guest star, he has come to the front and he is literally shining! He is shining “in a world that is filled with dead people who live by waiting to die” - Archbishop of Athens and Greece.

The comparisons are solely at your own discretion.

My Archbishop? Free your self!

Well of course, you can claim that the clergy reflects the society and its principles. These are the deification of money and profit. We would expect a more discreet attitude but this is not the case.

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A

new suggestion has been submitted by the Ministry of Education and Culture concerning the New High school timetables. A suggestion that is scientifically unsubstantiated and anachronistic. A suggestion that drives the public school years behind, with the only target being that of absolute specialization, having in its centre, exams and not the student itself.

Faithfully following the austerity policies of Troika and the World Bank, the suggestions of the Ministry of Education and Culture, have as a basic criterion the avoidance of any increase in the cost of education. Once more, the policies of Government and DISY, victimize the public school, downgrading courses such as Politics, Graphic arts, Computers, Music e.t.c. Courses that promote culture and arts, that reflect life itself in the school.

As EDON, we will keep having as a top priority the creation of a human-centered and democratic school that will be focused on the student and the teacher.

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A school, which will promote a multilevel education and critical thinking and not just the memorization of knowledge for the purposes of exams.

Based on the above we call the Ministry of Education and Culture to withdraw this particular suggestion that has submitted and begin a substantive dialogue based on the 2012 suggestion that has been shaped from all the involved bodies.

«M

ove forward, knowing that, sooner or later, the great avenues will be opened once more and free men will be walking to build a better society”. This was the ending statement of Salvador Allende, when multinational companies and the capital imposed a fascist regime almost 42 years ago.

Faithful to the words of Allende, the Chilean youth was present at all struggles with dynamic mobilizations to overthrow dictator Pinochet and establish a better education.

Nevertheless, Chile had one of the most neoliberal educational models. By this model, unless you are born rich you would receive a poor education or in the end forced to withdraw from your studies.

The elimination of the above educational model was a main aim for the Chilean student movement. At the same time, the aim was to demand a powerful public education giving the education opportunity to all young people.

Having the requests as the content of the recent mobilizations of the youth movement, the struggles were fruitful and successful. The victorious outcome of the Chilean youth movement was accompanied by the contribution of thousands of students who had as their slogan: “ Free public and qualitative education”.

We will continue our own struggles to defend and extent free public education

By the end of the protests, the government voted in favor of a new law that stops public funding for private schools, abolished the selective admission of children to public education and especially introduced the right to public education for all pupils and students of elementary and high schools.

This win gives us the hope to continue our own struggles for the defense and expansion of free public education. By remaining persistent on the fairness of our struggles we will be successful.

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T

he 9th of May was established as the Day of Victory of the Second World War while at the same time as a day of memory and honour for the millions of dead during the war.

Each country of the anti-Hitler coalition had its own valuable contribution to the victory. But the truth that the great burden of the war, the largest share of the sacrifices and the most decisive contribution to the defeat of hitler-fascism we owe it to the Soviet Union and the Soviet people, still remains undisputed.

Cyprus had its own remarkable contribution to the universal fight against fascism-Nazism. Around 30 000 Cypriots, Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots, were enlisted voluntarily to fight the Axis forces in the expectation that the end of war would bring freedom also to our homeland.

A highlight to the antifascist effort of Cypriots was AKEL’s decision of June 16, 1943 in which the Party invited its members to massively enlist and fight Hitler-fascism. Hundreds of cadres and members of AKEL led by 11 of the 17 members of the Central Committee willingly responded to that call.

EDON on May 9, wishing to honour the 70 years of the great antifascist victory will organize an event - discussion with central speaker the Professor of Contemporary Political and Social History Department of Political Sciences of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, George Margaritis and the former President of the Republic Mr. Demetris Christofias, while at the same time a march will be organized to the monument of the fallen of World War II.