Athens, 25 october 2023

Meeting of delegations from Educational Affairs Committees of Greece and Cyprus

A delegation of the Hellenic Parliament Educational Affairs Committee met today with a cross-party delegation of the Standing Committee on Educational Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus. The meeting was also attended by the Greek Minister of Education, Religion and Sports Kyriakos Pierrakakis.

The meeting took place in the framework of an official two-day visit of the Cypriot delegation to our country; the Hellenic Parliament Committee on Educational Affairs cross-party delegation consisted of the following MPs: Christos Kellas, (Chairman of the Committee), Ioanna Lytrivi (Secretary of the Committee), Athena Linou, Stefanos Parastatidis, Aphrodite Ktena, Konstantinos Boubas, Nikos Papadopoulos and Alexandros Kazamias. The Cyprus delegation was headed by the Chair of the Standing Committee on Educational Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus Pavlos Mylonas.

In his introductory remarks, the chair of the meeting Christos Kellas emphasised the exemplary close relations between the Parliaments of the two countries, moreover stressing that the resolution of the Cyprus issue on the basis of international law, security and stability is always a national priority for Greece.

The head of the Cypriot Delegation Pavlos Mylonas, thanked Mr. Kellas for his warm welcome and expressed the wish for the meeting to prove decisive regarding the strengthening of cooperation in the field of higher education and specifically for coping with issues facing Cypriot students in Greek Universities.

In his intervention, the Greek Minister of Education Kyriakos Pierrakakis, emphasised Cyprus’ recent achievement to become a regional centre of higher education with admirable research activity; in this light, he expressed his aspiration towards the creation of a strong regional centre of higher education in the Mediterranean basin, via the exchange of know-how and the close cooperation of the two countries. He then referred to a legislative proposal under way to implement the government's vision for open and free university education in our country, comprising two pillars, on the one hand establishing foreign university branches, and on the other pursuing the internationalisation of Greek universities.

During a Q&A session, the Minister of Education assured the Cypriot delegation that the Greek government is working towards addressing issues and difficulties faced by the Cypriot student community related to the procedure for granting a Social Security Number (AMKA), the possibility of transfer and housing, specifically mentioning the planned construction of new housing facilities and renovation of student residences.

In the exchange of views that followed, the members of the Parliaments of the two countries referred to the growing need for bilateral cooperation and the exchange of best practices, the strengthening of osmosis in the field of research and the interconnection of higher education with the labour market.

 

 

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