Policies & Regulations

Policies & Regulations

The school-students and teachers-constitutes a thumbnail sketch of human society that has rights and obligations. Diachronically, a society needs order, organisation, control, and definition of rights and obligations of its members, in order to move forward. The same applies to a school or a school unit. As a small society, it needs to control its operation by determining the rights and obligations of its members. Each school unit, driven by its members’ benefit, prepares its own internal operational regulations that define students’ relationships, as well as their rights and obligations towards school. Beyond the general legislative framework and the Operational Regulations of Public Schools, according to Regulation 14(1)(α) of Regulatory Administrative Act 311/2005, each school unit forms its own internal operational regulations, a product of a collective effort by teachers and students.

Rights & Obligations

• The right to education: The right to free education that a person has from pre-primary to primary, secondary and high school (or technical school), is very important.
• Freedom of expression: The right to express one’s opinion or views freely, in a way that does not harm other people’s reputation and personality. (S)he can also look for, receive and share any kind of information and ideas, orally, in writing, in print, in artistic form or in any other way. These must be carried out with freedom of expression not intending to impose or promote political ideologies, that target to bigotry or conversion, and without promoting hatred because of racial, gender, religious, political or national differences.
• Freedom of thought, conscience and religion: Another important right that one has is the freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This means that the school must respect the parents’ or legal guardians’ right to guide the student regarding the above, in a way that aims to target the development of his/her skills. The freedom of expression of his/her religion or beliefs is subject only to the restrictions that are defined by law and they are necessary to maintain public security, public order, public health and public morals or freedoms, as well as the fundamental rights of others.
• The student as a European citizen: The European Union has compiled all European citizens’ rights into a single document, the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The charter includes a special article for young people’s rights which, among everything else, contains the following:
  • the right for personal development,
  • the right for respecting their views and the right for their interests to be always taken into consideration,
  • the right to have a name and nationality, freedom of expression and access to information that concerns them,
  • the right to live in a family environment or an environment of alternative welfare and come in contact with both their parents, if possible,
  • the right for health and prosperity that includes the rights for children with disabilities, the right for medical treatment and social insurance, and
  • the right for education, free time and access to arts and culture,
  • the right to special protection for refugee children, children at juvenile correctional homes, children who have been denied their freedom, and children who suffer from financial, sexual or any other kind of abuse.
• The right to private life: According to the Operational Regulations of KASA High School, students have the right to live and enjoy their own private life. Nobody has the right to intervene arbitrarily or illegally in their private life, family or correspondence, or to offend their honour, personality and reputation.
• Protection from violence, exploitation and abuse: The school must take all the appropriate measures, administrative and pedagogical – to protect students from every type of violence, abuse, exploitation or lack of care.
• Participation in the Student Council: The regulations offer the student the right to vote and be a candidate for the Student Council.

General Information & Regulations

• Explanation of absence: When a student is absent, (s)he has the right and obligation to explain his/her absence with a sick-note or with a specific declaration from his/her parent or guardian (in case the student is underage). (S)he must present the note or declaration to the Head Registrar, when (s)he returns to School and surely no later than five days after the day of absence.
• Submission of complaints: According to the school operational regulations, the student has the right, either individually or with other students, to submit requests or complaints to the educational authorities. Written requests or complaints that concern a teacher must be submitted through the Principal who, after informing the teacher and listens to his/her point of view, passes them to the relevant authority along with his/her comments.
• Assistance and support: If the student faces any problems and needs to talk to somebody, (s)he can turn to the Head Teacher of his/her class, to the Assistant Principal, to the School Counsellor or even to the Principal. If (s)he trusts more one of his/her teachers, (s)he can even turn to him/her.
• Studentship: From the time the student attends school, (s)he is covered by studentship which not only ensures certain rights, but it also includes a number of obligations that (s)he must be well-informed about:
  • The student is covered by studentship from the beginning until the end of the school year, including holidays.
  • The student is punished when his/her behaviour is not consistent with studentship.
  • Studentship characterises a student both inside and outside school.
  • The student is expected to dress neatly and appropriately at all times. S(he) is required to show proper attention to personal cleanliness, neatness and appearance. Provocative fashion should be avoided. Students must use the proper practice of personal hygiene for the prevention and control of important public health diseases.
• Regular attendance and absences: Regular attendance at School is one of the basic obligations of the student and his/her most important right. In case his/her attendance is not always regular (for any reason), thus (s)he is absent, (s)he must be aware of the consequences. A student who is absent even for a single teaching period, as soon as (s)he returns to School, and no later than five days long, must present to the Head Teacher, according to the situation:
  • a sick note from the attended physician,
  • a signed declaration from the parents or guardians (special form issued by School), or
  • a certificate of attendance in formal external exams, or formal sports or other events.

Other important regulations about attendance and absences:

• • For the student who participates in a School’s special mission abroad or locally as decided by the Ministry of Education, or (s)he engages in a School activity that was assigned by the Board of Directors, the absence is not recorded, provided that the student informs the Board of Directors in time. For a student who participates in events organised by the Pancyprian Students Coordinating Committee, the absence is not recorded.
  • Absence as a result of School punishment is regarded as explained.
  • Absence that is not accompanied by an explanation is regarded as unexplained. Unexplained absence from School, as well as deliberate or selective absence from classes, constitutes a serious disciplinary offence, for which the Board of Directors imposes the relevant punishment. Absence in such a case is considered unexplained.
  • For any delayed arrival in class, the student needs to receive entry permit from the Head Registrar. Apparently, repeated delay, even less than five minutes, constitutes a disciplinary offence.
  • Signature forgery or alteration or spoiling an explanatory document and intervention in the attendance record constitute serious disciplinary and criminal offences that are strictly punished.
  • Finally, it is stated that the absence problem is very serious and every possible effort must be made to minimise it to the least possible extent. The student must also take into consideration that for every teaching period that (s)he is absent this is recorded as one absence.
• Number of absences / Repeating the class: The student is referred to examination in September for the subjects that involve a written examination and any others that the Teachers Board decides upon:
  • if (s)he has 42-50 unexplained absences, including the two numbers;
  • if (s)he has 152-160 absences from which at least 110 are explained, including the three numbers;
  • if (s)he has absences seven times more than the teaching periods per week in a subject or subjects, as they are defined on the timetable;
  • if (s)he has 14 to 17 unexplained absences in the second term, including the two numbers, or the total number of absences is 51 to 54 from which 37 are explained.
  • In very rare cases (s)he may be referred to examination in September, if (s)he has a total number of absences not bigger than 275, from which the unexplained ones do not overcome 50, upon suggestion from the Teachers Board and the Ministry’s approval.

  Considering the above, the student repeats the class:

  • if (s)he has more than 50 unexplained absences;
  • if (s)he has more than 160 absences (explained or unexplained);
  • if during the second term (s)he has more than 17 unexplained absences or more than 54 explained or unexplained absences. The student must be aware that in case (s)he does not finish school because of unsatisfactory attendance, (s)he must repeat the classes only for the next school year.

  *Please note that parent’s or guardian’s (if existent) declarations cannot explain absence for more than two consecutive days and it must not exceed twelve days in total per year.

• Passing the class – graduating: The assessment of the High School Student’s performance is based on the following grading scale:

  A	19-20	Excellent
  B	16-18	Very Good
  C	13-15	Good
  D	10-12	Satisfactory
  F	1-9	Fail

  The subjects for which students take a written examination at the end of the year are selected according to the existing operational regulations of the School.

  • For Year 4, students take examinations at the end of the school year in Greek, Maths, English and their major subjects.
  • For Year 5, they take examinations in Greek, Maths, English and their major subjects.
  • For Years 6 and 7, they take examinations in Greek, Maths, English and their specialisation subjects.

  The lowest passing grade, is ‘Satisfactory’ 10/20. In case a student is deficient and his/her annual progress is under 10 in subjects that do not have a written examination at the end of the year, (s)he is obliged to take a written examination for these subjects in June.

  As for the subjects that do not have a written examination at the end of the year, the student’s annual grade is the average of the term grades. For the subjects that (s)he takes a written examination, the annual grade is the average of the term grades and the written examination score. If the student wants to improve his/her grade on subjects that do not have a written examination at the end of the year, (s)he can take a written examination on these subjects in June.

• Assessment – Tests: The student’s assessment at School is continuous. This means it takes place daily, in order to further improve his/her performance. The tests or written examinations do not constitute the only criterion for the term grade. With regard to the tests, it is good for the student to know that these tests can be:
  • on the daily lesson, up to 45 minutes long (pop quizzes),
  • one-teaching-period long, one per day on the daily lesson (students are informed about it in advance), or
  • one-teaching-period long, on a unit (students are informed about it in advance).

  The teachers can use common oral assessment on a daily basis, even on the same day students have a written test that they have been informed about.

• Cheating/Plagiarism: If a student is caught cheating during a test, (s)he commits a serious offence and (s)he is punished according to the existing regulations, as follows:
  • immediate termination of the test, and
  • marking the test or the examination during which (s)he cheated with 1.

  Similar measures are also taken for students who communicate orally, or any other way during an examination. If such kinds of offences are repeated, they may lead to other disciplinary measures to be taken that will be determined from the Teachers Board.