President expresses desire for a University of Athens’ branch in Cyprus "as soon as possible"

The President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, has expressed the desire of the government to move forward with the opening of a branch of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) in Cyprus "as soon as possible."

He was speaking during a meeting he had with the Rector of the NKUA, Gerasimos Siasos, at the Presidential Palace, in Nicosia on 20 February and in the presence of the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Athena Michaelidou, and the Administration of the NKUA.

Siasos said that a decision has been taken for the establishment of 6 Greek-language study programmes and one foreign language study programme in Cyprus.

Welcoming the Rector and the Administration of the NKUA, the President of the Republic noted that the NKUA has educated dozens of generations of Cypriots. Referring to the intention of the NKUA to open a branch in Cyprus, President Christodoulides said that “we are here to move forward with the action as soon as possible”.

“All the cities of Cyprus have shown interest in hosting you. This is indicative of the love of Cypriots for the oldest school of Hellenism”, he stressed.

In statements after the meeting, the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Athena Michaelidou, spoke of “a very constructive meeting” with the Rector and the delegation of the University, with the aim of operating a branch of the University in Cyprus as soon as possible.

She also said that the meeting examined the various parameters related to “this great undertaking”, while expressing the desire to see the operation of the first school (of the NKUA) in Cyprus as soon as possible and to give this impetus to higher education in our country”.

On his part, the Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Gerasimos Siasos, pointed out that “the establishment of a branch in Cyprus is particularly important for us”, and welcomed the acceptance of this initiative by the Government. “We have issues that we will work on in the coming period,” he added, expressing, however, the belief that “the Cypriot society wants the most historic university to come to Cyprus,” which, as he said, was shown by a private company poll, according to which “90% of Cypriots want the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in their country.”

“We expect the issues to progress in the coming period and to see exactly the next steps for the implementation of this historic step,” he emphasized.

Replying to a question, the Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens said that many discussions have been held with the Archbishop of Cyprus, with whom the University is in collaboration, and with the Presidency of the Republic “to see exactly where the branch of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens will be established.”

Speaking about the study programmes that will come to Cyprus, the Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens said that currently there is a decision for Nursing, Medicine, Psychology, Educational Sciences, Philosophy, and Economics. “How these will be implemented in the coming years is something that we will discuss,” he noted.

“At this moment we are not ready yet for the timetable. We hope as soon as possible,” he stressed.

Speaking about the foreign language study programmes that are expected to come to Cyprus, Siasos said that the foreign language programme of Philosophy and History of Literature will definitely come. “The goal is for other foreign language study programmes to follow when the branch starts operating,” he concluded.

(Source: CNA)