School air conditioning under scrutiny. Regulator warns of electric shock risk.

Air conditioning units in some schools were turned on without completing the required electrical inspections, according to a report by the Cyprus Inspection Service. Its head, Andreas Papakonstantinou, recommends immediate shutdown of equipment where there is no confirmation of installation safety and final acceptance of worksHe warns that continued use could put students and teachers at risk of serious accidents.

The Ministry of Education responds that it is aware of the technical issues and is working to resolve them. It also emphasizes the scale of the project: the air conditioning will ultimately cover hundreds of schools, many of which require modernization of the electrical grid. The auditors' findings concern specific schools and they cannot be automatically applied to all schools.

Four out of five schools inspected with unfinished work

On September 24, auditors visited five schools that the Ministry of Education considered to have completed construction. In four of them, they found that basic work had still not been completed.

The report described air conditioning units installed almost two years ago but still unplugged. Other units were operating intermittently to avoid overloading the system. Inspectors also observed makeshift electrical connections and a switchboard with a door safety device removed. They were informed of an incident in which a circuit breaker tripped and was reset seven times in one day.

The most serious concern concerns devices that have started working before checking and certifying the electrical installation and before final inspection and acceptanceAccording to the head of the Control Service, such air conditioners should be disconnected until the prescribed procedure is completed.

The auditors emphasize that they visited only five schools. They do not claim that similar irregularities exist across the country. However, they believe that the nature of the deficiencies they discovered requires urgent action.

The project is bigger than originally planned

Initially, air conditioning was planned for 209 schools. The program was later expanded to 758 schools. According to data cited in the report, the total includes 5165 devices.

In the first phase, 1,278 air conditioners were installed. The next two phases concern 2,123 and 1,764 units, respectively, that have already been installed or are in the process of being installed. However, simply placing an air conditioner on the wall doesn't mean it can be safely operated. New wiring, switchboard upgrades, load monitoring, and system inspection may also be required.

The Audit Office accused the ministry of lacking sufficient oversight of the project's initial implementation. Much of the responsibility was delegated to school administrative committees, even though, according to the auditors, they lacked the technical expertise to manage a project of this scale.

The report also highlights delays and incomplete data on progress at individual schools. The auditors claim they received a detailed summary of schools only after the audit was completed, and the document contained serious errors.

Ministry: Air conditioning works in most secondary schools

The Ministry of Education disagrees with assessing the entire project solely through the lens of a few inspected facilities. According to the ministry's latest data, air conditioning is now fully operational in almost 90 percent of high schools and about 75 percent of junior high schools.

The Ministry acknowledges that technical issues arise during installation, but assures that they are being monitored and resolved. It explains that school buildings vary in their installation conditions, and that in some buildings, extensive electrical work is required before the equipment can be put into operation. It promises to use the audit findings to improve program implementation.

For parents and teachers, the key question remains about a specific school: whether the air conditioners operating there have passed all the required inspectionsThe Inspection Service demands the shutdown of equipment where safety procedures have not been completed, and reliable information on the status of work at each facility.

Sources: Control Service of the Republic of Cyprus, Ministry of Education, Philenews