The University of Cyprus’ Senate has decided to accept students with certificates from international examinations boards such as G.C.E. A levels and the International Baccalaureate. What are the consequences on the students who are now in public or private schools?
The students accepted with, for example, G.C.E. qualifications will be over and above the number of students already entering with public school examinations qualifications. In other words, if the university accepts 1,000 students from the public schools it will add another 10 per cent on that and accept another 100 students who have international examinations qualifications such as A levels. No seats will be taken away from anyone. There will be additional seats.
The Senate of the University of Cyprus has evaluated the standards of the various international examinations (G.C.E., Baccalaureate, etc) and has decided that they are sufficient entrance qualifications. After all, if universities such as Oxford and Cambridge accept the G.C.E. A level examinations why shouldn’t the University of Cyprus do the same? Furthermore, students from private schools take the examinations given by the Ministry of Education and Culture to receive the Very Good Knowledge of the Greek Language certificate. This means that students coming from private schools are at least as qualified to enter the university as those coming from public schools.
There are two main reasons why the Senate has decided to accept students from private schools. Firstly, the private universities have been attracting ever-increasing numbers of students because they offer high quality education and many versatile courses leading to accredited degrees. The University of Cyprus wants a piece of that pie. Secondly, at present students graduating from private secondary schools mostly apply to British universities. Very few apply to US universities and to private universities in Cyprus. Almost none applies for entrance to the University of Cyprus. The Senate wants to change that as well. It wants more students from the private schools because they are considered high performance students. It is doubtful though whether the Senate’s decision will change the minds of many private school graduates.
Cypriots who are Maronties, Armenians and Latins have also been accepted by the University of Cyprus over and above the other students of the public schools, and the same applies for the children of diplomats and repatriated Cypriots. No one has complained about that because it is fair. Why is it any different for students from private schools who have been discriminated against all this time?
The Senate has the important role of protecting and implementing the university’s autonomy. That is the only way to protect itself from outside interference from various pressure groups. (Whether it has the legal right to decide how to accept students is something the Attorney General will have to decide.) The Senate knows that students from private schools can only bring high academic standards to the university and that’s what it is aiming for. The Senate is investing in the future of the University of Cyprus in a way that will benefit all its students. An institution’s diploma can only have the value reflected onto it by its own students.
Akis Gregoriou
Director-General
The Grammar School, Nicosia
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