CCTV cameras will be rolled out in 10 high schools across Limassol, as staff have been dealing with hooded figures setting fire at the premises, it emerged on Wednesday. Head of secondary technical education Dr. Ilias Markatzis told CNA the measures are part of efforts to clamp down on increasing phenomena of delinquency.
Escalating Incidents of Vandalism
Dr. Markatzis detailed a particularly alarming case where individuals with their faces covered were throwing flares into the school. One of these flares led to a tree catching fire outside the premises, but with foliage on the side of the school. Staff managed to extinguish the flames before the fire services arrived.
In a second case, which Dr. Markatzis described as more serious, 15 hooded figures approached the school. “They had tyres which they set on fire and threw outside the school fence. Two or three of them climbed over the fence to push the tyres into the school,” he said. Health and safety staff used fire extinguishers to deal with the flames; however, the perpetrators ran away long before police got there.
Markatzis noted that the group did not seem like high school students. “However, no one can know, because their faces were covered,” he added. He suggested that the fires might have been linked to celebrations marking the end of the school year.
Preventative Measures and Future Plans
The incidents took place during the day, but there are guards in many schools during the afternoons. “There are also patrols that drive by the school to see if there is anything suspicious,” Markatzis mentioned.
The aim behind installing CCTV cameras, according to Markatzis, is to observe whether this will deter those who damage schools. If successful, cameras will be rolled out across more schools. “Many measures are being taken to minimize these phenomena. Of course, prevention is always key,” he emphasized.
A huge effort is being undertaken to cultivate a different mentality among students. “If anything, guiding students to understand how much harm these acts cause, how wrong they are, so that we can win them over and not engage in such acts,” he concluded.