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Overall
responsibility for education rests with the
Ministry of Education and Culture. However, a
small number of vocational and post-secondary
professional institutions come under the
Ministries of Labour and Social Insurance,
Agriculture and Health.
Education is
provided through pre-primary and primary
schooling - the latter starts at the age of 5
years and 8 months - secondary general and
secondary technical/vocational schools, special
schools, the University and other third-level
institutions and non-formal institutions
centres.
Public schools are
mainly financed from public funds, while
private institutions raise their funds mainly
from tuition fees, small state subsidies and in
some cases from foreign aid through overseas
agencies and religious
organizations.
The educational
system is highly centralized with the
appointments, transfers, promotions and
disciplinary matters of teachers controlled by
the State. Syllabi, curricula and textbooks are
set to a large extent, by governmental
agencies. Schools at all levels are visited by
the inspectorate, which offers in-service
training, advice and supervision. Schools
evaluation lies also with the inspectorate.
Educational policies are formulated by the
Ministry of Education and Culture on the advice
of the Education Council - a widely
representative body - and finally approved by
the Council of Ministers. The construction,
maintenance and equipment of school buildings
are the responsibility of central government
and local education authorities. Private
schools are owned and administered by
individuals or bodies, but are liable to
supervision and inspection by the Ministry of
Education and Culture.
The importance of
pre-primary education has been recognised by
the Government. Temporary public nursery
schools were established after the Turkish
invasion in 1974 in refugee camps and
settlements. Since 1979 the public pre-primary
education expansion project is in effect,
offering equal educational opportunities to
children aged 4 1/2 - 5 2/3 years. The final
target is full coverage of children of this age
bracket.
The expansion of
pre-primary education, state and private,
covers around 49,6% of the children aged
between 3-5. There are three categories of
pre-primary institutions:
(a) Public nursery
schools are established by the government and
supported partly by the government and partly
by the parents%26rsquo; associations. The
teachers are centrally appointed and paid
through the government budget.
(b) Community
nursery schools are established and supported
by local authorities and parents%26rsquo;
associations, which also employ the teachers.
These nursery schools are highly subsidised by
the government.
(c) Private
nursery schools are established and supported
by individuals on a profit-making
basis.
Public community
and private pre-primary institutions are
supervised by the Ministry of Education and
Culture. A number of day-care centres come
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Labour and Social Insurance.
Primary education
is both free and compulsory. The government
pays the salaries of the teachers and hands out
annual grants to all local authorities
according to the number of pupils in their
area. Schools function in every town and
village where more than 15 children live. Area
schools serve neighbouring communities with
less than 15 pupils. Most of the big primary
schools in urban areas and in big rural
communities are divided into two cycles: cycle
A catering for grades I-llI and cycle B
comprising of grades IV-VI. The pupil /teacher
ratio at national level is 18,0 while teachers
are allocated in such a way that the biggest
class size does not exceed 34 pupils and 32 for
the 1st grade.
According to the
curriculum experiential, meaningful learning is
being sought through emphasis on environment
and social subjects, language development,
creative expression in music, art and movement.
The acquisition of the basic skills of reading,
writing and mathematics has an important place
in all grades of primary schooling. Primary
school leavers receive at the end of the sixth
year a leaving certificate, the main evaluating
procedure being the continuous one.
The major goals
set by the new curriculum, which was introduced
in 1994, are:
- To assimilate
the spiritual, cultural and other achievements
as well as other sound elements of the
past.
- To make the best
use of all potentialities of the
present.
- To proceed to
new achievements in all domains of social
activities and to maximize the contribution for
a better world.
- To develop
attitudes and skills for physical and mental
health.
- To strengthen
the fighting spirit of the new generation which
lives in a partly occupied country.
In the field of
Special Education, effort is being made not to
segregate disabled children but to give them
the opportunity to grow and learn together with
normal children. They learn as much as their
abilities and potentialities allow them to
learn in the normal environment, which
satisfies psychological and physical needs.
Special provision, however, is made for the
severely mentally handicapped children, and
children with severe emotional problems who
attend special schools.
Public Secondary
Education is divided into two cycles: The
Gymnasium and the Lyceum or Technical /
Vocational School, which provide a six-year
course to children in the 11-17+ age group.
Secondary education has become compulsory up to
the third year of the gymnasium or on
completion of the age of 15 and it has been
free for both cycles since 1985.
The second cycle,
which comprises the last three years of
secondary education is offered either by the
Lyceum of Elective Subjects or by the Technical
/ Vocational Schools. Pupils are assisted in
making their choice by the Vocational Guidance
Services. At the Lyceum of Elective Subjects,
there are three categories of subjects. The
subjects of the main core which have to be
attended by all pupils, specialization subjects
and supplementary subjects, which are elective.
Although pupils are free in principle to choose
any of the elective subjects, in practice there
are the following five main combinations of
subjects, which include related groups of
elective subjects.
Combination I with
emphasis on classical studies. Combination II
on science, Combination III on economics,
Combination IV on commercial subjects and
subjects related to skills for office
professions and Combination V on foreign
languages.
The new concept of
Eniaio Lykeio, i.e. a type of Comprehensive
Lyceum integrating Secondary General Education
and Technical/Vocational Education, has been
implemented as a pilot project in three
selected urban schools. The new system,
intended to render Secondary Education
consistent with modern trends, involves a basic
obligatory common core of subjects in the three
years of the Secondary Level with limited
option in the first year and intensive
specialisation through subject selection in the
2nd and 3rd years.
Private Secondary
Schools are mainly oriented towards the
commercial vocational education, although some
of them incorporate technical / vocational
subjects as well. As in the case of public
schools the studies cover a six-year cycle, the
emphasis being in the first three years on
general education. These schools are supported
by fees paid by parents.
A small number of
private schools are run on a non-profit basis
by various religious groups or other agencies.
The courses of these schools last six to seven
years, their language of instruction is
English, French, or Italian and they focus on
general education and languages.
Students enter
technical and vocational schools after
successful completion of the gymnasium at the
age of fifteen. All technical schools offer two
types of courses - technical and vocational.
Technical courses are of three years duration
and in addition to technical theory and
practice they lay particular emphasis on
sciences and mathematics. The specializations
offered in the technical direction are
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Building
Construction, Graphic Arts and Interior Design
and Garment Design and Construction. Graduates
of the technical section may be employed as
technicians in industry or follow further
studies in colleges and
universities.
All vocational
programmes are of a three-year duration. In the
final year of the vocational courses students
attend school for three days a week and for the
remaining two days follow a practical training
programme in industry. In the vocational
direction more emphasis is given to practical
skills by allocating more workshop periods than
in the technical direction. In the vocational
direction there are eight branches which offer
specialization in mechanical and electrical
engineering, in building construction, in
furniture making, in shoe making, in hotel and
catering, in hotel maintenance, in jewellery
and silversmithing, in dress-making and in
draughtsmanship. Graduates of the vocational
direction are employed in the local industry or
may follow further studies.
The total number
of Cypriot students at home and abroad during
the academic year 1998-99 was 23.330. Those
studying in Cyprus were 10.842 forming 46% of
the student population.
During the
academic year 1996-97 the University of Cyprus
and eight Public Tertiary Education
Institutions were offering courses of study.
The University of Cyprus is an autonomous
educational institution while the Public
Tertiary Education Institutions operate under
other Ministries of the Republic.
The University of
Cyprus offered programmes through the following
faculties:
(a) Human and
Social Sciences
(b) Pure and
Applied Sciences
(c) Economics and
Management
(d)
Letters
The Ministry of
Education and Culture, through its Department
of Higher and Tertiary Education took all
measures, within its competence, for the smooth
operation of the University.
The Public
Tertiary Education Institutions operating in
Cyprus during the academic year 1996-1997
were:
(a) The Higher
Technical Institute
(b) The Higher
Hotel Institute of Cyprus
(c) The Cyprus
Forestry College
(d) The
Mediterranean Institute of
Management
(e) The School of
Nursing
(f) The Public
Health Inspectors School
(g) The Tourism
Guide School
(h) The Cyprus
Police Academy
There were twenty
private third level educational institutions,
which offered courses of study in various
fields of one to four years%26rsquo;
duration.
During 1996 the
House of Representatives enacted two Laws
regarding higher education. The first one, Law
67(I)/96, regulates the establishment, control
and operation of institutions of tertiary
education. The other Law 68(I) 96, provides for
the establishment of the Cyprus Council for the
Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications
(Kypriako Symvoulio Anagnorisis Titlon Spoudon
(KY.S.A.T.S.)).
Implementing the
two Laws the Ministry of Education and Culture
has moved forward to the process of educational
accreditation and the establishment of the
Recognition Council.
Greek is the
language of 82% of the population of the island
and Turkish of 18%. English is widely spoken
and is a compulsory subject in the last three
forms of primary education and at secondary
school level.
The following
table summarises the existing educational
situation during the 1997-1998 school
year:
The schools in the
Turkish occupied are included:
Level of education |
No. of schools |
No. of pupils |
No. of teachers |
Pupil / Teacher ratio |
All full time education |
728 |
140943 |
10069 |
14.0 |
Pre primary education |
223 |
8596 |
386 |
22.2 |
Primary education |
354 |
61811 |
3439 |
18.0 |
Secondary education |
110 |
61350 |
5414 |
11.3 |
Third-level education |
29 |
8874 |
728 |
12.2 |
Special education |
12 |
312 |
102 |
3.1 |
Ministry of Education and
Culture
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