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Education in Cyprus

Cyprus has a well-developed system for education in both primary and secondary phases. It provides both the public and private education to its citizens. The high quality of instruction can be attributed to the above average performance of teachers. This is in stark contrast to the mentality of the teaching staff in the developed countries.

The vocation of a schoolteacher is it primary or secondary public or private is a well sought after job.  The teaching profession, apart from being one the noblest profession is in great demand because of the excellent job security, more than adequate pay and generous vacation packages. There is also a lack of viable alternatives for the university graduates. The interesting fact is that the selection of the teachers is not done by order of merit but by the order of passing out from the university. The person who has passed out first will get a job first.

The students of the public education system have to take extra classes to complement the school in form of tuitions, which is not so with the students of private schools.  The graduation from the public schools is not recognized by the English and American universities. They have to appear in 'A' level examinations to get admissions in English or American universities. The high school grades are not based on any centralized examination. Any appearance in centralized examination for some subject amounts to 25% of the final graduation marks. The 75% of the final grades is taken on the basis of projects during the semesters.

The students of the private schools do not encounter such issues. They usually attend the foreign universities with comparative ease. Even the Cypriot universities do not recognize high school grades as criteria for admission. For admission the students have to appear in the University entrance examination and qualify through it.