AKEL proposes English as teaching language at Cyprus universities
Source: in-cyprus.com
Opposition party AKEL has submitted legislative proposals to introduce English as a teaching language at the country’s three public universities, alongside the official languages of Greek and Turkish.
The proposals, submitted to parliament by AKEL MPs George Loukaides, Christos Christofides, Andreas Kavkalias and Christos Christofias, target the University of Cyprus, Cyprus University of Technology, and Open University of Cyprus.
The move comes as parliament’s education committee prepares to discuss the controversial issue of allowing public universities to offer undergraduate programmes in foreign languages at its January 29 meeting.
Christofides told philenews the proposals revive AKEL’s original request made during the establishment of the University of Cyprus to include English as a teaching language. He said the approach mirrors previous practices at the Forestry College, HSSTI and HTI, where English was already used for instruction.
“We are not reinventing the wheel or proposing something unprecedented for Cyprus,” Christofides said.
The proposals aim to boost the universities’ internationalisation by attracting foreign students, academics and researchers, whilst increasing social, economic and scientific benefits for Cypriot society and the institutions themselves, according to Christofides.
He said the proposals align with European universities that charge low or no tuition fees for English-language programmes to attract international students and invest in broader institutional benefits.
The AKEL proposals would grant universities greater academic autonomy in offering English-language programmes without executive authority intervention, whilst maintaining the current Pancyprian Entrance Examinations as the primary admission route for Cypriot students.
Christofides criticised the Education Ministry’s separate bill on foreign-language programmes, saying its proposed “non-competitive” tuition fees compared to private institutions would make it difficult to attract students.
The original article: belongs to in-cyprus.com .
