EDUCATION Minister Andreas Demetriou yesterday sought a deal with secondary teachers under which some of the students holding controversial foreign accreditation would in the end have to take the Pancyprian Greek exam.
The move came a day after teachers union OELMEK said it was sticking to its guns and would be boycotting the exams due to start later this month in protest over a planned decision to allow a three per cent quota of students such as GCE holders into state universities.
The quota had already been knocked back from the initially-proposed ten per cent to appease teachers who voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to implement the boycott.
At a crisis meeting with the teachers yesterday, Demetriou proposed that students holding international accreditation who wished to attend the faculties of Literature, Classical and Legal Studies could be required to take the Pancyprian entry exams in Modern Greek. Ostensibly, the reason is that in those departments Greek is language of study.
As for candidates for the other departments, where Greek is not the main subject such as Engineering, Physics, Biology, etc., the Greek language proficiency in Greek would be checked by the University using other methods, the Minister said.
“If I have OELMEK’s consent I will add this provision. It should be submitted to the Cabinet next Wednesday so they have to make their decision before then in order that I amend the regulations that have already been prepared and supervised by the Legal Services,” said Demetriou.
But Vice Rector of the University of Cyprus Costas Christofides told the Cyprus Mail yesterday: “The University stands by its position. We are against the proposal of this three per cent having to undergo the Pancyprian entry examination for Modern Greek. We are all for conducting a test to see the level of proficiency in the Greek language but this will have to be conducted by the university. We have the Philosophy Department with several professors capable to carry out these exams themselves. It is a matter of principle”
The Central Board of OELMEK said yesterday it would meet to discuss the Minister’s proposal on Monday afternoon.
The president of OELMEK, Eleni Semelidou, said: “Until the convening of the Central Board of OELMEK and the final decision, the measures decided by our union still apply”.
