Foreign university bill finalised, says minister
Discussions on a bill regulating the operation of foreign university branches in Cyprus have entered their final stretch and the wording of the bill has been finalised, Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said on Friday. Michaelidou, who par
Discussions on a bill regulating the operation of foreign university branches in Cyprus have entered their final stretch and the wording of the bill has been finalised, Education Minister Athena Michaelidou said on Friday.
Michaelidou, who participated in a House education committee meeting, which discussed foreign university branches in Cyprus, said the establishment of such branches has been permitted since 2015 and that the new bill regulated the manner in which these branches are set up and operate.
The aim, she said, was to internationalise and upgrade higher education in Cyprus.
Michaelidou said the bill did not include any clauses excluding certain categories of universities from opening branches on the island.
“We want a bill that is open, modern, that allows all universities to apply and from thereon we will examine which are appropriate and necessary in our country, according to the strict criteria of the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education,” she said.
Asked if a state university opening a branch in Cyprus would cease to belong to that state, Michaelidou said it would stop being a public university and would operate under the regulations for private universities.
On November 20, the minister had told MPs that establishing foreign university branches in Cyprus was already permitted by law and was provided for in EU legislation, adding that the bill tabled by the ministry included safety valves for proper evaluation of the branches, the number of faculties and programmes, their relationship with the mother institution and viability studies.
“The branches of foreign universities and foreign language programmes take us forward. We must all behave responsibly,” the education minister had said.
During that meeting, MPs said they would decide what was in the best public interest, raised issues of competitiveness between public and private universities and “frivolous administration”, questioned how aware the ministry was in critical issues of tertiary education and said some parties would be submitting amendments to the bills.
Speaking after Friday’s meeting, the minister said the issue of offering self-funding post-graduate programmes in foreign languages was not discussed.
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