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On the budgets of the two public universities, University of Cyprus and Cyprus University of Technology, was the focus of today's session of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Culture, while there were also reports on the management of the pandemic in the field of education.
In statements made after the end of the session, DISY MP Giorgos Karoullas noted that, recognizing the important educational and research work carried out by the universities of Cyprus, "it is necessary to continuously develop and modernize the offered curricula so that they are in line with the needs of society and the wider interconnection with the labour market", adding that the development of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cyprus and the creation of a university hospital are also included in the above-mentioned framework. With regard to the internationalisation efforts of universities, Mr Karoullas stressed that "the offering of study programmes in foreign languages should be of concern to the Education Committee in the near future".
For his part, AKEL MP Christos Christofides referred to the current situation in schools, describing it as "really difficult". "The fact that students stay at home, hundreds of students every day, without any substantial learning process, and the many teacher absences have led our schools to a level of virtual underperformance," he added.
Asked whether there is any AKEL proposal on the issue, Christofides said that AKEL has proposed the measure of hybrid education, "i.e. children who stay at home should have an understanding of what happens in the classroom", while he described the way in which the test to stay was implemented as sketchy.
Referring to the debate on universities, the AKEL MP said that there are individual issues that need to be resolved to improve both the operation and efficiency of public universities, while he described the University's Medical School as "trapped for years in the negative attitude of the government", adding that "all these issues are of concern to us and need to be addressed, but they cannot erase or tarnish the big picture, a picture of successes, appreciation of the Cypriot people for the work done by our universities, but also an international resonance that makes us very happy".
In turn, DIKO MP Chrysanthos Savvidis expressed his concern over the issue of the Polytechnic School of the University of Cyprus, which "while it should be finished in May 2021, is still under construction."
"We are talking about a 139 million project and we are still going and we don't know when it will be finished. We are waiting for the Auditor General on this particular issue to give his opinion and tell us his views, but on the other hand we are waiting with great anxiety what he will tell us about the 1.6 million, which the University of Cyprus has paid before it has the approval of the Parliament."
Regarding the CUT, Mr. Savides also expressed concerns about "the bad relations that exist between the parties involved and the negativity that prevails between the guild, the rectorate authorities and the employees", while he welcomed the creation of a public university school in Paphos.
Finally, DPA MP Alekos Tryfonides also addressed the issue of the payment of the amount of 1.6 million by the Council of the University of Cyprus "without the final approval of the Education Committee and the plenary session of the Parliament", while he also referred to the creation of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Cyprus: "We are in 2022 and based on the estimates by the end of 2021 it was only at 63% of the total construction. It is tragic that what has been reported by the chairman of the board of the University of Cyprus that the issue of the Faculty of Engineering is faltering."
"We have called on the Auditor General, as well as the services of the University of Cyprus to give us a full report and suggest ways so that the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Cyprus can be built in a short period of time and tell us how much it will cost in addition to the 53 million that is budgeted," he added.
Regarding the Cyprus University of Technology, Mr. Tryfonides in turn welcomed the creation of the Schools of Tourism in Paphos, adding that "we invited the university to see how it can create schools in Larnaca, but also in the countryside." while he called on the rectorial authorities of the CUT "to engage in a dialogue with both the staff union and the students' council, so as to find an institutionalised path of dialogue between them to solve the problems that concern them very strongly".
Source: CNA
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