Palace college offers free tuition to Serbs

By Andrew Adamides

A NICOSIA college that last month said it was expelling all British and American students in retaliation for Nato air strikes on Yugoslavia struck again yesterday, offering free admission to Serbian students.

The Palace College caused outrage when it announced on March 30 that it was ousting all its British and American students for the duration of the Nato bombings on Yugoslavia and sending their fees to aid relief for the Serbs.

College Director Michaelis Papachrysostomou said yesterday that the offer to Serbian students covered all the institution’s courses – mainly extracurricular programmes for secondary school students, language and secretarial courses.

He did not say how many Serbs had availed themselves of the offer, but did specify that this amounted to offering the entire course free, as payment would not be asked of the Serbs if their free courses outlasted the Nato bombings.

Asked if this would not hit the college’s finances even harder after its pledge to send double the fees of the expelled American and British students to Serbia, Papachrysostomou told the Cyprus Mail that “we have to do something if we can”, given the situation in Yugoslavia.

Papachrysostomou yesterday again refused to specify exactly how many Americans and Britons had been dismissed, but said some had complained to their embassies and others had threatened legal action. He said the Education Ministry had furnished him with unspecified “instructions” about what he was to do about the situation, but added he would “not necessarily” follow the instructions.

Students who have one Greek parent, or who are married to a Greek have been allowed to remain at the college. The college initially claimed up to 50 students would be affected but has steadfastly refused to give exact figures.

Papachrysostomou has denied the expulsion are unfair, saying that “compared to what Nato are doing, this is nothing.”