-
.
- Ελληνικά
I am grateful for your presence and for the honor of being here with us tonight.
First of all, I would like to thank our old friends and sponsors of the Body for their trust and long-lasting support and I would like to enthusiastically welcome our new friends who give us the strength to continue thinking big and setting the bar high so that the Independent Social Support Body becomes a decisive social tool for justice and equal opportunities for the young people of our Cyprus.
Friends,
As most of you know, the body was established on the initiative of the previous First Lady Mrs. Andri Anastasiades - whom I warmly welcome and thank for her presence - after the financial crisis of 2013, under a law of the Republic of Cyprus, with the Accountant General as Treasurer and the First Lady as President. The Institution accepts contributions from individuals and legal entities in Cyprus and abroad and upon application grants financial assistance to children who are studying and come from families with very low incomes or face particular social and economic problems. When it was created, the first objective was to enable children whose parents were unemployed to continue their studies.
The Directors General of the Ministries of Education, Sports and Youth, Labour and Social Insurance, and Health also participate in the Committee of the Institution. That is why tonight we are joined by the relevant Ministers, Directors General and/or their officials, whose assistance is invaluable. I thank them very much.
The aid is given specifically to students to cover part of their tuition fees and rent. They are rarely and justifiably given as financial aid. I think it is important to mention that contributions/donations to the body are tax exempt.
After my husband took over the presidency, I was informed in detail about the Independent Social Support Agency, the law and regulations, how in its day-to-day workings, and I took over as Executive President with a lot of enthusiasm and optimism. I immediately realized the momentum that with a few efforts the Body could gain in order to become a powerful social tool.
It is important to know that from 2015 to date more than 3,000 children have been helped and more than 4 million euros have been given. The Institution had a budget of close to €400-450 thousand per year until 2022.
In its eight years of operation, the Institution has been cooperating perfectly with many higher and tertiary institutions in Cyprus, which is why I welcome here tonight rectors and professors from these institutions. I would like to tell you that when it is found that a child who comes to the Institution needs further assistance due to special circumstances, upon our recommendation, these institutions provide more facilities or small scholarships on their behalf. We work closely with them and there is mutual support.
Therefore, the social action of the Institution is multidimensional and there is great potential for the future. I am sure that it can evolve into a very basic social tool with an offer to the young people of our country, but also in general to support the family, an institution that is being tested due to the current challenges and austerity. And this unfortunately has implications in terms of under-generation.
I believe very much in education. I believe in education as the ideal tool for human progress. And I am very proud to have been born and raised in a country that offers free public education to its children from infancy to senior level. You know, it's not a privilege enjoyed by citizens in every country in the world.
As a child of non-refugees, I realized from a very young age that in order to be and feel equal and pursue my dreams, education and hard work would be the key that would open doors that may have already been open or more accessible to others. If we give all children the opportunity to study, and I am not just referring to the sciences but also to the arts and technical professions, we are contributing to the broader education and literacy of not only themselves but also of society as a whole, because we now realize as parents that when a child finishes school at 17-18 they still need guidance, education, a safe environment in which to grow more.
As Horace has said, education is capital for the poor and interest for the rich - meaning the materially rich. Therefore, it is also the rich man's concern to educate all citizens in order to ensure general progress, civilization, that a country has good and beneficial citizens. That is why it is in fact a national investment to give all your young people the opportunity to be educated, to study what they love, to learn a subject, that is, to know it well. This gives them knowledge, but it also gives them self-confidence, which is extremely important. And it is only through education that you strike at every form of extremism, discrimination, and create culture, respect for all and tolerance.
And somewhere here I borrow what Nelson Mandela said, and I like it very much, that "education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world."
And somewhere here I borrow what Nelson Mandela said, and I like it very much, that "education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world. Mandela managed in one sentence to highlight the power of education and to convey how important it is to constantly invest in the acquisition of knowledge.
Our society today, and Niko and I saw this well during a long consultation with ordinary people all over Cyprus last year and every day, because the contact with the world continues, needs equal opportunities. In order for there to be equal opportunities for everyone in these conditions of precision that prevail, the state should create conditions so that all our children start from the same starting point and with the same skills. The Agency contributes to this.
With the Agency we are fully aligned with the social policy objectives of Nick's administration.
Things are simple. From March 2023 we aim for much more sponsorships, better communication of our goals to the general public, simplification and digitalization of processes and full transparency in terms of regulations and criteria and approvals. We also want to reduce the waiting time for children so that they get the money earlier. We want to be in a position this year, and I tell you tonight with certainty that we have already achieved our first ambitious objective, to give many more scholarships to middle-class children and not only to children of the economically weak or vulnerable, which will continue to be a priority.
Since I took over, excited about the potential of the institution, which was a fund that was under half a million a year, I thought that if my predecessor did the great work of establishing the fund and running it, I had at least a duty to at least more than double its income, relax the criteria, update it to meet the needs of society today, and help many more students. That will be my contribution. Because it always helps me to set my goals as what I would like to have left behind when this cycle closes. So 4.5 years from now, I would like the Institution to be able to enter every home in Cyprus that is in need. With a little help we can together support the studies of even thousands of children per year. Ambitious but achievable.
Today I am pleased to announce several innovations. First of all, let me tell you that we have a new updated page on socialsupport.gov.cy, you can all log in to see our page. Children will be informed and make their applications online, and we are also introducing new ways of making contributions, simplifying this process as well. You will see if you scan your phone on the little card in front of you that contributions can be made by bank, and also by QR code, through JCC, which we thank very much for their help. Our new upgraded website offers these options by tapping on the contribution and choosing how you wish to contribute. And I would like to thank Pixxelaction for creating our new website and the new Accountant General Mr. Andreas Antoniadis and his team for their willingness to help modernize and digitize the criteria and page.
In essence, what are the innovations and how will more children benefit?
For the new academic year 2023-2024 we are introducing a new category of children who will be given scholarships without their families being income tested. Therefore, a lump sum will be given depending on whether they receive scholarships from elsewhere in:
[*]orphaned children of two parents, [*]children of victims of the 2011 Mari blast and in the line of duty, [*]children of internally displaced persons, [*]children who were under the care of the Director of Social Welfare Services until adulthood, [*]single parents with four or more children, [*]large families with five or more dependent children. [BR]
Of course we continue to help children from very low-income families, but we also enter the middle class by relaxing the asset criterion and bringing it into line with €1.2 assets that the state sets for all grants, and relaxing the income criterion, especially for single parents with more than three dependents and large families with more than four dependents.
To come up with these innovations this year, we did a lot of calculations and paper exercises, not by us, but by the team of the Accountant General based on official statistics. We estimated that we would reach about €2 million, we used a lot of contacts with Cypriot businessmen within Cyprus but also with personalities of Cypriots in the diaspora, in the UK and the US and the shipping community, and so we can help with a little more effort 1300 children and maybe more, instead of the 400-450 that were. I would like to tell you that among the students an older person can also benefit as long as it is their first degree and they fall within our criteria.
Therefore, the immediate goal for 2023/2024 is to raise more than two million euros and help more than 1300 students.
If we secure recurring large annual grants, then from 2024-2025 why not give scholarships to 1500 and 2000 children.
If we secure recurring large annual grants, then from 2024-2025 why not give scholarships to 1500 and 2000 children. That is the goal. Each year more beneficiaries, more relaxed criteria.
The institution is targeting sponsorships from individuals and legal entities with surplus funds. Why do I specify this? Because we are not going to seek funds from ordinary citizens, because the aim is to help them. Nor should the institution be perceived as charity, but as an act of social responsibility by those who have it, either as a personal surplus or as a corporate surplus, as a social contribution to a state which, after all, provides us with security, its services, to live, to do business and to prosper.
I know many of you personally. I know your sensitivity, I know that all of you are doing some important charitable work quietly, you are people of social responsibility. There are people here tonight, they know, the purpose of the Institution is not to promote but yes I want to say it, whom I deeply appreciate, because they have always come forward as supporters of the state and society, especially in difficult times, without looking for anything in return, without seeking recognition and bravos. Some of them, when I spoke to them about my goals for the institution, said go ahead we are with you, and they allowed me to be here today and to be able to make these announcements. I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
So if you also believe in the power of education as the tool that gives all young people the key to personal development, to success that will contribute to social and national well-being, to culture and respect in its broadest sense, then you will give us immense joy and the necessary financial security if you directly and practically support the institution.
Our students will make their applications for this academic year in a few days. Applications will be open from October 25 to November 25. During these days I will try to promote this project and I also want to thank all the representatives of the media who are here, who will assist, so that all the young people who are eligible know that they can apply to the Institution and be helped. The media have a very important role to play.
Dear friends,
I believe in the rule of law, in a society of dignity and pride, for which all the forces of the country, public and private, must unite. I believe in social justice and that every child should be helped to pursue their dreams and have the confidence that they can go wherever they want. Not just our children. All children."
I believe in progression, not stagnation, which is why I made strengthening the agency a priority. I believe in developing a culture of social responsibility. It is not only the state that owes us, and we should, if we have a surplus, give.
The vision of strengthening the Institution so that it can one day help thousands of students in Cyprus with very important sponsorships for them and their families, as support for every struggling family, is the step that I would primarily like to have taken when my husband completes his term of office from the highest state office in Cyprus.
The vision of strengthening the Institution so that it can one day help thousands of students in Cyprus with very important sponsorships for them and their families, as support for every family that is struggling, is the step that I would primarily like to have taken when my husband completes his term of office from the highest state office in Cyprus.
I have set other goals and priorities, but this one concerns the future of our young people, and therefore of our country, which is why it comes first. I thank the deserving women who lead my team in the presidency and all the officials from all departments of the state for their patience. Well done to all.
I close by stealing a quote from Confucius.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
I have no doubt that many of you will be my fellow travellers and we can travel not just one step, but miles together.
Thank you.
(PM/AF/EXP)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
