(Cont’d)

Special Education

As for the accomplishment of goals regarding specific target groups, the government policy of the decade is to encourage and support the integration of children with special needs into the ordinary educational system and provide them with the opportunity to grow and learn together with their "non-handicapped" peers. In the case of children with more severe needs, their locational and social integration is supported by extra educational help offered by special or support teachers assigned to mainstream schools. Pre-school hearing impaired and autistic children are also partially integrated through their placement in special units and attached to kindergartens and primary schools and part-time attendance of the ordinary class programme.

An exception to the integration policy is the form of education for children with severe mental, physical, sensory and emotional problems who are still segregated into special schools. Every effort, however, is made to encounter the development of links between special and ordinary schools and to promote social integration.

According to the 47/79 Law for Special Education, the Cyprus Government has undertaken responsibility for the education of children with special needs between the ages of 5 and 18 who fall into the categories of moderately mentally retarded, mildly mentally retarded, slow learners, emotionally disturbed, and deaf, blind and physically handicapped.

According to the Law, the Council of Ministers is empowered to organise schools and programmes in any of the above categories. This legislation also requires the establishment, in each educational area, of a multiprofessional committee responsible for discussing at the local level, the cases of children referred to it, and for suggesting to the Director of Primary Education possible placement and appropriate educational provision. The participants in the Committee come from different professional backgrounds and a psychiatrist, a clinical physiologist, an educational psychologist, and a social worker are also included as members.

The Government of Cyprus has given special attention to the provision of equal education opportunities for every child. Pursuing this policy, the Government continues to run special schools for all types of special needs, such as schools for the moderately mentally handicapped, for the deaf and the blind, for children with behaviour problems etc.

In 1998 student population attending programmes in special schools is as follows:

On the other hand, it is very important to stress that special education is also offered in mainstream education. For example, for the school year 1997-98, 235 special educators were offering individualised programs in mainstream Primary Schools.

The principle of safeguarding the culture and national identity of emigrant children is of great priority and focuses on strengthening of the Cypriot Educational Mission in England, as well as on the extension of support offered to other Cypriot communities in Australia, Canada and the U.S.A. This will be in the form of teaching and informative material of the country of origin to be supplied on a permanent basis. Every summer, the Ministry of Education and Culture hosts children from abroad at the Ministry summer camps. The children have the opportunity to learn about the various districts, the history and the culture of Cyprus.

In the Public Primary Schools there are 725 students whose mother tongue is not Greek, that is, one or both of their parents does not have Greek as their native language. The children come form different countries. A significant number of children have parents who are of Greek origin and were living in the former Soviet Union. The Adult Education Centre offers afternoon classes to these children in all towns, as well an in Ayia Napa. It is estimated that 250 attend these classes.

The Ministry of Education and Culture places great importance on the promotion of the concept of life long education. In this context plans are being made for the adoption of measures for enhancing adult education and providing the opportunities for access to Life Long Education for all the citizens.

Since an internationally recognised level of education does not determine illiteracy rates, it is considered that those who did not continue their studies in secondary education need help in order to successfully cope with the rapid changes.

According to the statistical data available 66332 (14.7%) people did not attend or did not complete Primary Education, whereas 117122 (26%) graduated only from Primary Education. In addition, 80000 out of 254000 working people either did not graduate from Primary Education (14.400) or they completed only Primary Education one out of two working people who come from rural areas and one out of four working people who come from urban areas only completed Primary Education.

The main policy followed in the 1990-2000 period for dealing with the problem of illiteracy focused on formal schools which operated in the evening (night schools) or informal classes for people who were organically illiterate. Specifically, it is estimated that 100-130 people from both rural and urban areas are helped every year in the subjects of Modern Greek and Mathematics.

It is also important to note that schools are closely working with the Parents Associations and the Local Authorities in motivating people (parents or not) to continue their studies beyond the level of Primary Education. For instance, after a research carried out at B’ Lachia Primary School, it was found that about half of the parents had attended only Primary Education. For organisation purposes, the curriculum could include practice in the skills of reading, writing and spelling, oral and written expression, Mathematics and Social Subjects.

In terms of the cost, it is suggested that these Adult Education Centres will operate first in 25-30 groups (20-25 in rural communities and in refugee camps), with a total cost of about 30000 Cypriot Pounds. It is expected that in this first stage, the 300 people who will be helped will be attending the course twice a week for two hours a week. Around 50 courses will be offered per year (October-May). The teachers of these courses will receive 12 Cypriot pounds per hour.

As this report should also include qualitative factors and perceptions on the evolution of basic education, a significant step towards the improvement in learning achievement was the development of a new curriculum for all subjects of pre-primary and special education by the inspectorate in co-operation with the Teachers’ Union and the Pedagogical Institute. This new curriculum, which was put into practice in September 1992, was developed in order to meet the new needs of the country and the new trends in education.

Specifically, it sets the following major goals:

to assimilate the spiritual, cultural and other achievements, as well as other sound elements of the past,

to make the best use of all the existing potential,

to proceed to mew achievements in all domains of social activity and to maximize the contribution for a better world,

to develop attitudes and skills for physical and mental health,

to strengthen the fighting spirit of the new generation which lives in partly occupied country.

the all round physical and spiritual development of the children through the acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary for contemporary life,

the right understanding of the world through a systematic study of the phenomena of natural and social environment,

the knowledge of history, especially national, and the knowledge of the achievements of world civilization,

the acquisition of language and the development of the skills of clarity and precision in expression,

the development of the ability for critical thinking and creative mental activities,

the development of love for the motherland, humanistic ideals and democratic beliefs,

the development of love and respect for work,

the development of conscious discipline and guidance for the undertaking of responsibilities and the exercise of rights,

the development of social consciousness and responsibility,

the moral and religious education and the development of the spirit of mutual help, mutual understanding, respect of the views of others, initiative and co-operation,

the identification and development of the interests, skills and talents of pupils,

provision of every possible opportunity for the right professional orientation and facilitation of the professional career of the new citizen in the framework of lifelong education,

the systematic care for the physical development and health of pupils,

the aesthetic education and the systematic acquaintance of the pupils with artistic creation at national and international levels.

Some of the ideas, which pervade the curriculum, are the following:

The teacher has ceased to be the only source of knowledge, the only authority and the dominant figure in the classroom. The teacher has become the organizer of educational activities in co-operation with the pupils. He/she is the children’s guide, animator and collaborator. The emphasis is not on whole-class teaching but on a variety of group and individual activities. Independent study, experimentation and the development of creative skills are encouraged.

Emphasis is given to the active participation of children in all aspects of school life. This is encouraged because it is believed that through this participation, real learning is achieved and responsibility, self-esteem, self-dependence and creativity are developed. This objective is pursued through the formation of various committees and work-groups at classroom level and the existence of pupils’ councils at school level.

The study of the environment is given primary importance. The children are helped to "live" their environment thus becoming able to understand, describe and love it. This awareness and positive attitude will hopefully help them to proceed to the understanding of other places and the world in general.

Teachers are encouraged to avoid compartmentalisation of each subject and integrate their activities, concentrating their attention on a certain fact of real interest to the children, rather than on a certain topic prescribed by a textbook or syllabus.

Affective domain

The new curriculum makes extensive reference to the affective domain, underlining the importance of values, interest and attitudes for the developing personality of the child.

The steady decrease of the pupil/teacher ratio, as well as the construction of new school classrooms have made it possible for more emphasis to be given to individualization of instruction of instruction and remedial teaching.

The importance of the child’s self-evaluation and evaluation by the teacher on a systematic basis (formative-summative) is emphasized by the new curriculum.

Educational technology, radio and television are being used for the teaching of certain subjects and for the in-service training of teachers. The benefit that is being derived though educational television and radio is not limited to the actual television and radio programmes that are broadcast. The provision of schools with supplementary materials in the form of booklets, slides, posters, pictures etc, within the framework of broadcasts, helps enormously in the enrichment of the work of teachers and pupils alike.

The curriculum underlines the idea that there is no "fixed" or "stable" curriculum that will suit every school forever. Teachers are encouraged to modify and adjust it, according to their environment and the particular needs of the children.

Finally, they are reminded that the curriculum should be subject to continuous development. Departmental committees consisting of members of the inspectorate, representatives of the Pedagogical Institute and the Teachers’ Unions are dealing with the continuous development of the curriculum.

Another significant step that was strongly emphasized in this decade in terms of helping students improve their learning achievement, is the in-service training of primary teachers. This task is undertaken by the Pedagogical Institute, which organizes optional as well as compulsory seminars.

These seminars relate both to the content and the teaching of the various curriculum areas as well as to recent trends in education. In-service education, which has been a priority during the last years, has as its main goals, the promotion of active methods of teaching, the practice of co-operative learning, the extensive use of new technologies in education and the further education of teachers in case study research.

-Academic qualifications and certification of teachers

A significant step taken in this area, which is the focus of EFA indicators 9 and 10, concerns the successful efforts to ensure that all teachers have a university degree. Prior to 1992, teacher training took place at the Pedagogical Academy, which was a three-year institution. Following the founding of the University of Cyprus in 1992 however, teachers received university training and were awarded university degrees, which became a required academic qualification for appointment in Primary Education. As for the teachers who had already been working in Primary Schools, they received intensive in-service training, in order to meet these qualifications.

Due to the need for more teachers, graduates of programs other than Elementary Education (e.g., Modern Greek, Music etc) were also appointed in primary schools. However, they too had to receive in-service training which focused on pedagogical issues, since this aspect was not included in their university program of study.

- The Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching

An illustrative example of the efforts put in in-service training and in the qualitative upgrading of teaching and learning effectiveness is the introduction of the Communicative Approach to Language Teaching. The basic objectives of this innovation, which was promoted by the Department of Primary Education, are the teaching of the Greek Language (mother tongue) in relation to geographical and socio-linguistic varieties and the introduction of pluralistic and flexible programmes in order to meet children’s heterogeneity. In addition, it seeks to help pupils become acquainted with the language varieties used in real communication, and to place emphasis on the production, refinement and evaluation of language effectiveness.

The programme started in 1996 on an experimental basis with a group of about 30 teachers in Nicosia. For the next two years the programme expanded to cover the whole of Cyprus. At least one thousand teachers attended seminars, both in theory and practice, of 18 teaching periods duration. The programme will continue for the next 2-3 years and will include further in-service training of teachers, Curriculum development and production of teaching materials.

For the realisation of this objective the following decisions have been taken:

The in-service training of teachers in methodology in general and specifically in the methodology of teaching mixed ability classes.

Decrease in curriculum content and preparation of additional teaching material within the framework of evaluating and developing the Curriculum.

- New areas in the curriculum

Apart from the promotion of more effective instructional methodologies, considerable effort has also been made to introduce innovative subjects that are considered significant for today’s society. Examples of such projects are the following:

Introduction of Information Technology (IT)

In September 1993 the Primary Education Department initiated the implementation of a pilot project for the introduction of Information Technology, in a number of primary schools in Cyprus. The purpose of this project is to determine the integration of computers as an educational aid into the existing curriculum of these schools, identify which factors may affect the computer use in a school and highlight the areas of success as well as the difficulties expected that we will be able to identify aspects on which more attention is required if both teachers and children are to more forward in this area.

The philosophy underlying the project is that the microcomputer can be used as a dynamic educational device across several areas of the curriculum, which could allow children to learn IT skills. During the first year of the implementation of the project (1993-1994) an Information Technology Unit was established in the Curriculum Development Unit, which is responsible for the coordination and implementation of the project. At the same time the Pedagogical Institute of Cyprus introduced a special programme for the in-service training of teachers, while at the same time a number of 19 teachers and one inspector were offered a scholarship in order to receive training in the area in the U.S.A.

By the end of the second year of the project (1994-1995) the pilot schools were equipped with the necessary hardware and educational software to begin the project. In addition, four District IT coordinators have been appointed for the educational and technical support of the pilot schools in their district. More specifically, these IT coordinators, cooperate closely with the Central Technology Unit and are responsible for visiting the pilot schools, working closely with the head-teacher and staff for the organisation and management of IT in these schools, providing educational support and counseling to the teachers who use IT in their classroom, installing and presenting new educational software as well as suggesting ways of implementing it into the curriculum, organizing school-based training, etc.

During the third and fourth year of the project (1995-96, 1996-97) schools were provided with new hardware and educational software and old machines were upgraded to meet the new requirements of technology. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Culture in co-operation with the Government of Israel organised two series of seminars for Primary School teachers, in the area of integrating computers in primary education. The Pedagogical Institute of Cyprus is continuing the in-service training while at the same time school-based training courses have begun.

Moreover, the Primary Education Department in co-operation with the University of Cyprus and the University of Crete, has begun a new experimental project for distance in-service training of primary school teachers through Internet.

- Museum Education

Museum education is promoted through the organisation of educational programmes based on experiential and active learning, observation, exploration, discovery and critical thinking. One such programme is operating in Limassol and another in Paphos. As from the school year 1999-2000 the programme will be extended to cover all areas of Cyprus.

- Design and Technology

The effective introduction of this course was promoted with the training of 150 teachers by the English trainer Mr Paul Conharane. District exhibitions of children’s designs took place in Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol. Demonstrative lessons were given by the coordinators of the subject etc.

The general aim of the programme is to help primary school students develop healthy living habits, in order to preserve their physical, spiritual, mental and social well being.

In view of the current conditions, the agreed strategy, plan and major programs were considerably realistic, especially because of the way they managed to adopt the EFA goals and guidelines in the already existing administrative structure. In addition, the integration of these targets in the existing general structure of the educational system in Cyprus also contributed to their successful implementation, as it allowed for the effective exploitation of all available resources. Consequently, the results obtained have been in proportion to the effort made and can be generally considered as satisfactory.

The three principal achievements in EFA since 1990 are probably the promotion of Special Education and the integration of children with special needs in mainstream classes, the emphasis on the in-service training of Primary School teachers and finally, the introduction of innovations in teaching methodologies and subjects with the purpose of improving students’ learning achievement.

In spite of its relative effectiveness, the practical implementation of the plan for achieving certain EFA targets came across various obstacles.

An important difficulty is the need for expansion and continuous management of school buildings, due to the internal movements and redistribution of the population, especially between urban and rural areas. Since these movements are most likely to continue, the problem will not cease to exist, although, as explained in Part III, many efforts are put into dealing with it.

Another difficulty that somewhat slowed the progress towards specific EFA goals and targets concerns the introduction of new technologies. This innovation requires that certain issues be addressed, such as equipment needs, identification of needs, necessary adaptation of the curricula and personnel training. Such problems will continue but they will probably be dealt with more effectively, as they will not concern the introduction of a new program, but the expansion of an already existing one.

In addition, as explained in the following section, the educational system needs to become de-centralised. Finally, the absence of specific National Standards for all three domains of education (cognitive, affective and psychomotor) poses significant difficulties for the diagnosis and improvement of students’ learning achievement.

Because Primary Education is mandatory, public support and demand for basic education cannot be easily assessed, although the demand for adult education and for secondary and tertiary education could indicate that it is very strong.

Evidence on the Government’s commitment to achieving the national EFA goals or targets can be drawn from the increases in expenditure on Primary Education, as well as on the programmes planned and implemented for the promotion of completion of Primary Education and improvement of learning achievement which were outlined in section 6. However, although the heavily centralised system of Cyprus turned out to be quite effective in helping carry out the EFA goals, at the same time it is also its major weakness, as current directions in educational administration strongly emphasise the importance of promoting a de-centralised educational system.

As shown by the quantitative and qualitative information presented in this report, the progress towards the achievement of the EFA goals can be considered quite satisfactory. The general conclusions reached in the whole assessment exercise focus on the effective integration of the guidelines set by EFA in the already existing structure of the Cyprus educational system, which allowed for a successful planning and implementation of the EFA programmes and goals. As emphasised in the previous sections, Cyprus concentrated on qualitative improvement, since the quantitative goal of universal access to completion of Primary Education had already been established.

The data presented in this report show a considerable progress in the improvement of student/teacher ratio, a decrease in the number of repeaters in Primary Education, and a significant increase in current and capital public expenditure on Primary Education. In addition, a five-year plan was implemented for the construction of new school buildings, which, upon its completion in 2000 is expected to minimise the accommodation needs of Primary Education.

One objective that has been highly emphasised concerns the provision of equal opportunities in education. Specifically, special education succeeded in the integration of students with special needs in mainstream schools and provided individualised assistance to children with lower educational achievement. Other target groups included children of immigrants in Cyprus and abroad, who were taught the Greek language and culture, while special efforts were also made to help adults complete basic education by attending afternoon classes.

The improvement of students’ learning achievement was promoted by the introduction of a new curriculum, which placed primary importance on children’s active participation, study of the environment, individualised instruction, integration of subjects, educational technology, as well as in the affective domain. Other innovative efforts concerned innovations in instructional methodology, such as the Communicative Approach in Language Teaching and mixed-ability classes, new teaching subjects, such as Museum Education, Health Education and Design and Technology, and the promotion of Nine-Year Education in an attempt to harmonise Primary Education with the first three years of Secondary Education. The successful introduction of the innovations was promoted by the in service training of teachers, which was also used to ensure that all teachers have university-level training, a goal that was strongly emphasised in the past decade.