It is a great pleasure to be with you today at the co-design workshop for the European Year of Youth 2022. I find the idea of the Commissioner for Citizens, Mr Panagiotis Sentonas, National Coordinator for the European Year of Youth 2022, to organise today's event excellent and I am sure that it will lay the right foundations for achieving the objectives of the Year in our country. Your presence here today, which also demonstrates your commitment to actively contribute to the Year, is a guarantee for the success of the collective effort focused on empowering and strengthening our youth. The choice we are making at European level is particularly apt: a Year of Youth, to focus on tomorrow, on hope for tomorrow, and that is why we need to empower young people and young people and give them opportunities. We agree with its rationale and focus, as well as the spirit behind it. Youth has been seriously affected by the unprecedented pandemic in the shadow of which we have been living for the last two years and needs immediate support and empowerment. Providing more and better opportunities for young people, especially the less privileged, is crucial and must be opened up at all levels: local, national and European. At the same time, our commitment to the active and meaningful participation of young people should be renewed in order to create a better future: a greener future, for all, inclusive and of course a digital future. We want young people to lead the future, the path beyond and out of the pandemic.
Having the main responsibility for shaping youth policy in our country, we have already launched policies and actions for the benefit of the younger generation, which will gain new momentum and visibility through the Year. First of all, in cooperation with the Cyprus Youth Organisation, we make sure to support and offer opportunities for our young people. Central to this effort is the formulation and implementation of a National Youth Strategy, which has been developed through continuous and qualitative consultation with young people and with the awareness that youth issues are complex, requiring the collective effort of many stakeholders.
Dear participants,
As a Ministry responsible for youth issues, we have a vision to empower young people. To achieve their maximum potential. We know that they have and to actively participate in all aspects and facets of social, economic and political life. Speaking of education, our reforms aim to modernize pedagogical approaches, upgrade structures and improve infrastructure. The aim of all reforms is to enhance the quality and efficiency of education at all levels. Of key importance is the new Pupil Evaluation Plan which has been gradually implemented over the years. As well as the new Educational Project and Teacher Evaluation Plan which is currently being finalized through consultations and I hope it will come to a satisfactory conclusion, as has been the case these days, after years, with the Civil Service Reform Bills.
Among other things, we seek to modernize the curricula of both primary and secondary education, to better match higher education studies with the needs of society and data in the workplace, to make use of digital technology in education, and to expand free compulsory pre-school education. I would like to mention the Plan for a better match between higher and secondary education curricula and the needs of society and the labour market, as well as the need to promote vocational education in general, which is an area in which we are lagging behind. There is a programme underway in cooperation between the Ministry and the University of Cyprus, which is also part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan. Separately, I would also highlight the "two foreign languages at school" policy that is being implemented with the extension from this year of the teaching of French to all grades of high school and technical schools, which is part of the EU's general orientation towards multilingualism and mobility throughout Europe. But also the innovation to certify with international exams both English and French in public schools.
Some of these reforms have been included for support in the Republic of Cyprus' recovery and resilience plan, the "Cyprus-Tomorrow" plan. For example, the plan includes actions to support the digital transformation of education, linking education to the labour market and green growth. At the same time, a variety of actions are being implemented by other Government agencies some of which are supported by national resources and others by European resources. Alongside these are the opportunities offered by the European Programmes, the main ones being ERASMUS+ together with the Youth Chapter and the European Solidarity Corps. I believe that the European Year of Youth offers excellent opportunities to increase the visibility of the opportunities offered to young people, as well as to strengthen and/or adapt them to make them more accessible and more effective.
In conclusion, I wish the work of today's co-design workshop every success. I would like to stress that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth will stand by the Coordinator of the Year of Youth and will support in practice and in various ways the initiatives resulting from the co-design, always keeping in mind the good of our youth.
(IP/NG)
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