Graduation ceremony of the Open University of Cyprus held online

Some 694 graduates of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes of study were awarded their degrees, and two new doctoral students were awarded their PhD during the thirteenth graduation ceremony of the Open University of Cyprus (OUC) for the academic year 2019-2020, which was held with online events from December 11 until 13.

The graduation ceremony was addressed by education minister Prodromos Prodromou, who congratulated OUC’s graduates on behalf of President Nicos Anastasiades. In his speech, Prodromou stressed the advantages of distance education, which OUC successfully promotes, which are relevant nowadays even more so due to the current pandemic. The minister stated that “OUC is an exemplary model of an open and distance education institution and can serve as an example  for other educational institutions, of all levels, on how distance education may be applied effectively and successfully using innovative technologies in teaching methodology, and at the same time, offering high quality education”.

Prodromou also expressed the intention of the government to further expand its successful cooperation with the Open University of Cyprus by utilising its technological resources, know-how and expertise to face the great challenge of implementing distance education at all levels of education in Cyprus.

The rector of the Open University of Cyprus, professor Petros Pashiardis, referred to the university’s achievements during the 2019-2020 academic year stating that OUC is a public digital university, which operates and adapts effectively to the current conditions, utilising state-of-the-art technology in providing quality education. The rector stressed that “distance education is the present and the future in higher education”, and noted that OUC is willing to offer its infrastructure and know-how to support the government’s efforts in applying distance education at all levels of education.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.