Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Athena Michaelidou met today with a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Francophonie, which is visiting Cyprus, in the framework of the actions to integrate the House of Representatives into the Assembly.
During the meeting, the Minister presented the actions organised by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth (MESY) for the celebration of Francophonie, as well as Cyprus' participation in the Francophonie Games since 2006, the date of Cyprus' accession to the International Organisation of Francophonie. He also referred to the efforts made in recent years to strengthen the teaching of French in public education, as well as to the actions taken to further strengthen it, in the context of promoting multilingualism, in line with the recommendations of the European Union. Particular reference was made to the operation of the French-Cypriot School in Cyprus since 2012, whose graduates obtain the internationally recognised Baccalauréat, which allows access to all universities in France and other French-speaking countries. Further, Mrs. Michaelidou referred to the presence of Francophonie in higher education in Cyprus, with the operation of the Department of French and European Studies of the University of Cyprus since 1998 and the participation of both the University of Cyprus and the Cyprus Institute in the Association of Universities of Francophonie (Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie).
The head of the delegation, Mr. Jean-Charles Luperto, Head of Delegation for the European Region, presented the general work of the Assembly and in particular that of the Committee on Education, Communication and Cultural Affairs, which has as a priority, in addition to the promotion of the French language in the context of multilingualism, the strengthening of the common values of the Francophonie, namely democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
Both the Minister and the members of the delegation agreed that the full integration of the Cyprus Parliament into the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie would allow for the further strengthening of education, youth and sport and the implementation of concerted actions in favour of the Francophonie and the implementation of concerted actions in this direction.
(NΓ)
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