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Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily and Sardinia, and is situated at the eastern end of the sea. The island has an area of 9,251 square kilometers (3,572 square miles), measuring 226 kilometers long and 98 kilometers wide. The 755,000 inhabitants create a population density of 82 persons per square kilometer. The Greek Cypriots (including Armenians, Maronites,…
Cyprus is an independent, sovereign republic of a presidential type. Under the 1960 Constitution, the executive power is entrusted to the president of the republic who is elected for a five-year term of office. A transitional body governed education until the Proclamation of Independence on 16 August 1960. Thereafter, the administration of Greek Cypriot education was undertaken by the Greek Commun…
Knowledge Traditions: Unique to Cyprus may be the influence of the ancient Greek civilization, where the knowledge of theory was considered superior to the knowledge of practical skills (Persianis 1996b). Cypriot Greeks have historically related the concept of the "educated Cypriot" to the knowledge traditions of Greece. Cypriots traveled to Constantinople, Alexandria, Salamanca, Ven…
Since Cyprus has been at the crossroads of world travel through the centuries, the country's educational system has been influenced by many different civilizations. During the Ottoman Period (1571-1878), children attended school as early as age four in sibyan classes of elementary schools. Classes were mixed-age and included both genders. The children were confided to the teacher in a speci…
Public general secondary education is divided into two cycles, the Gymnasium and the Lyceum, which provide a six-year course to children in the 11 to 17 age group. Secondary education has become compulsory up to the third year of gymnasium, and has been free for both cycles since 1985. The U.S. reader should be mindful that gymnasium has a different meaning in Europe. A student who attends a gymna…
Postsecondary education was established in Cyprus when two teacher training colleges were opened by the then British Colonial Office of Education, one for male students in 1937 and one for female students in 1946 (Koyzis 1989). In January 1958, both of these institutions were combined in the coeducational pedagogical Academy of Cyprus, and by 1959 the institution was turned over to the Greek commu…
According to Law 12/1965, the highest authority for making and shaping educational policy is the Council of Ministers. The Ministry of Education is responsible for the administration of education, policy, curricula, personnel preparation, hiring and promotions, enforcement of laws and regulations, and resource allocation and budget. Preprimary, primary, and secondary education are under the author…
The post-World War II era witnessed the development of adult and continuing education in Cyprus. Persianis (1996) has identified the following six features of adult and continuing education in Cyprus: the great impact of political developments; the great dependency on foreign know-how, models, and institutions; the low socio-economic origin of its target groups; a different educational and cultura…
Preservice Teacher Training: Admission standards to the elementary education major at the University of Cyprus have been compared to those at U.S. institutions and were determined to be higher (Papanastasiou & Papanastasiou 1997). In order to be admitted to the Department of Education at the University of Cyprus, students have to compete with approximately 2,000 other candidates in the fier…
Cyprus entered the twenty-first century as a divided nation state. Nearly three decades of ethnic conflict are symbolized in its divided capitol city, Nicosia. The United Nations peacekeeping forces stationed in Cyprus are a daily reminder to a generation that has suffered the pain of the Cyprus conflict. The effect of this ethnic conflict on students and the educational process is hard to underst…
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