So another school year begins...

[Dominic]

Now that I am once again getting up at the crack of dawn, does anybody have any recommended spots around Polemi for seeing the sun rise? I was thinking the road past the fenced off tulip field which then veers right might prove a nice vantage point, but am welcome to any recommendations.

[cyprusmax47]

At least the Polemi fog is on this pic.....



Max

[Firefly]

Max

Lovely photo.

Jackie

[Lofos-5]

I hear that some students in Larnaca refuse to start school as there are asylum seekers in their classes?

Sad if true...

[PaphosAL]

More insight on the Larnaca students:

http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/09/07/prote ... ay-school/

Cheers- AL

[Firefly]

It seems a very confusing situation to me, are they pupils who have previously been expelled, or foreign asylum seekers, or put in the wrong year, or a mixture of all three ? Will the parents be fined, or doesn't Cyprus have laws governing school attendance ?

Jackie

[Dominic]

If you read the Cyprus Mail story, the protest isn't over asylum seekers at all. It is over former drop-outs being put in the same class. Only three of them are asylum seekers, not fifteen, as previously reported.

In short, best wait until the dust settles and the real story emerges, as it isn't as cut and dried as first reported.

[PaphosAL]

Actually, Dom, only three of them are foreign students. No mention of Asylum seekers at all, in the Cyprus Mail article.

Primary concern seems to be coming from parents of 12 year olds (like Dom, for example) finding their children in classes with kids aged 14 to 17, previous dropouts, truants, no respect for teachers (hence likely to be disruptive in lessons).

Think carefully here, please... Would you like your 12 year old daughter exposed to a 17 year old male in the same class at school every day? I think the answer is obvious. And I believe the parents are 100% correct in the stance they are taking in Larnaca.

Send these dropouts and truants aged 14-17 to a dedicated A/C portacabin boot camp to get their final education papers! And NOT corrupt the existing schooling system...

Cheers- AL

[Dominic]

There was originally Al, they updated it.

[PaphosAL]

Hands on heart, Dominic, how would you and Alex feel as parents if you discovered there was a 17 year old lad (with possible previous dropout, truancy, disruptive form) in the same class as your 12 year old daughter and her similar-aged classmates, day in day out, week after week?

It would for sure unsettle me. Opinion please, Jacs (with 12 year old grandaughter at school in Paphos)? Something stinks here... Hope you don't send this to the Pit on the grounds of Ageism, LOL!

Cheers- AL

[Firefly]

Al

I have to say I would object it was my child.

Jackie

[Dominic]

When it is clear what policy is actually being objected to then I will be able to comment fully. However, let's assume the idea is as follows:

Re-introduce drop-outs into much younger classes (as opposed to re-doing a year).

What do I think of that policy? I think it is a bad idea. The drop-outs will surely object to being surrounded by kids a lot younger than they are, and the younger kids will suffer from the inevitable disruption. About the only people who might benefit are younger kids who are likely to drop out. They might see what the future is for them and mend their ways. However, I doubt it.

[PhotoLady]

Yes, the photos of kids in their new uniforms standing on the doorstep are all over facebook.....

Thanks Dominic for showing us the other side of the coin

[smudger]

If the situation is that say 17 year old dropouts are being placed in classes of 12 year olds then I would most certainly be concerned and object vociferously, but I think there is much to yet be unravelled from this situation before considered opinions can be voiced.

[PolemIan]

Great view from our place Dominic. Sunrise was superb this morning but I was a bit too sleepy to pop out into the patio for a photo.

Ian

[PaphosAL]

Nice one Ian, for pulling us back onto Dominic's sunrise in Polemi theme

We've touched on this before. But between Polemi and the eastern horizon where the Sun rises, lays the central massif of Troodos, blocking the view and making sunrise appear to be much later than is the reality...

For example, real sunrise is 06:27 tomorrow morning in Paphos. So if Dom sends his Drone vertically upwards as high as it goes just before that time, points it eastwards and takes still shots every two minutes, he might end up with a couple of classic shots!

Provided he can land the bloody thing afterwards, LOL! Cheers- AL

[Dominic]

Do keep up Al, that drone's going nowhere at the moment.

And I would hardly say the Troodos block the view. They PROVIDE the view!

[PaphosAL]

Bad terminology on my part, Dom. Troodos occludes the line of sight to the eastern horizon and the actual sunrise. Sunrise will therefor occur locally slightly later than forecast, once it has climbed above Troodos. Is that better?

Hurry up and fix your busted drones, or treat yourself to that tasty new one that you are hankering after!

Cheers- AL