The main areas of cooperation between Cyprus and Greece, as well as the topics for a bilateral meeting planned for mid-November, were discussed on Tuesday by the education ministers of the two countries, Athena Michaelidou and Sofia Zacharaki. The meeting took place during the Greek minister’s official visit to Cyprus.
In statements after a working meeting at the Ministry, the ministers said the bilateral meeting would address artificial intelligence in education, special, technical and vocational education, as well as skills. According to a Ministry announcement, they highlighted the excellent longstanding relationship between Cyprus and Greece in education and their shared commitment to further strengthening cooperation.
Zacharaki’s visit was linked to the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Church of Cyprus, the Church of Greece, Cyprus’s Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, and Greece’s Ministry of Education, Sport and Religious Affairs. The two ministers also visited the “Kornesios” primary school and the Pancyprian Gymnasium in Nicosia, Michaelidou said.
Memorandum
The Memorandum aims to highlight historical memory, local history and Cyprus’ culture, with particular emphasis on the historical course of Hellenism in Cyprus, the role of the Church of Cyprus, the Cypriots’ struggles for freedom and their participation in the national struggles of Hellenism. Ms Michaelidou said it would provide for exchanges of teachers and multifaceted cooperation on religious education and history.
“Beyond the Memorandum of Cooperation, we also had the opportunity to discuss issues concerning our cooperation, which is ongoing and constantly upgraded, and covers matters related to our education system, from pre-primary to higher education,” Michaelidou said.
Referring to the November meeting, she said particular emphasis would be placed on artificial intelligence in education, special, technical and vocational education, and skills. On the latter, she noted that Greece was making strong progress and using digital tools that could now also be used in Cyprus.
Better opportunities
“Our goals are shared. We want to upgrade public schools. We want to give our children and teachers more opportunities, so that we can have the education system everyone deserves,” the Cypriot minister said. She added that Greece was standing by Cyprus and that, through cooperation memoranda and consultation, the two countries sought to exchange expertise and good practices.
Zacharaki described the Memorandum as important, saying it would provide guidance and a strong basis for children to learn about history together with their teachers. She also referred to the opportunity for schools in Greece to commemorate the 1955-1959 EOKA anniversary, as they have done since last year. More schools took part in the commemorative event last year and this year, she said.
Initiatives and cooperation
The Greek minister added that cooperation could continue through specific initiatives, including visits by children to Cyprus and Greece, teacher training, a competition between the two countries, and a digital platform to digitise and preserve material.
Speaking about the upcoming bilateral meeting, Ms Zacharaki said the effort was to prepare children for rapid change, explaining that this was why new skills and technical and vocational education would be discussed. Congratulating Cyprus on its initiatives in training and certification, she also referred to enabling more children to choose vocational education. On special needs education, she said the aim was for every child to participate on equal terms, while recognising that children learn in different ways.
Zacharaki also said that on Monday she had welcomed students from Cyprus in Patra, while many students from Greece chose universities in Cyprus. She said parents in both countries could be confident that this choice would strengthen their children’s prospects for the future, in a safe environment with academic, research and substantive work taking place in both countries.
At the end of the working meeting, Ms Zacharaki presented Ms Michaelidou with a children’s book by UNSCO, expressing the hope that it would be used in schools in Cyprus, as it is in Greece.
Source: CNA
