Cyprus-Forum.com

[Sotos]

A NICOSIA Supreme Court yesterday rejected an appeal from Philips College who were objecting to the Interior Ministry’s refusal to give 1,363 overseas students a visa. The immigration department, which is under the wing of the Ministry, had informed the college that the number of student visas requested was larger than the current capacity of foreign students allowed at the college. The college in response to the department’s refusal said that many of their foreign students were either going back to their respective countries or were being transferred to other educational institutes abroad. The judge ruled that Philips College appeal had no grounds and that they should pay for the court proceedings.

Why they are making it so difficult for foreign students to come to Cyprus? Other countries are trying as much as possible to take foreign students and we are sending them away????

[57varieties]

i think it probably has to do with the fact that a lot of illegal workers are coming to work in Cyprus by first obtaining a student visa.

[Sotos]

The fault is with immigration and also with the colleges. If the colleges were requiring the students to pass some tests in order to be accepted then the problem would be less. But now some colleges accept "students" that don't even speak the language and they might have not even finished school in their country!!

[Michael]

Are you being delibarately obtuse. Most cannot write their names. These schools are conduits for cheap migrants.

[Sotos]

More Cypriot females studying than males


The importance of foreign students as a source of foreign exchange revenue has been highlighted with new data from the Statistical Service CYSTAT, showing that the proportion of foreign students in tertiary education reached almost one-third of the total in the academic year 2003/04.

Out of a total 20,849 students in tertiary education in Cyprus, 6,679 came from abroad while 14,170 were Cypriots.

The same data show that female Cypriots are more inclined to study than male Cypriots, both at home and abroad. In 2003/04, there were 8,529 female Cypriot students in Cyprus, compared with 5,641 male Cypriot students. Abroad, there were 9,421 female Cypriot students and 8,210 males.

This is in stark contrast to foreign students, who are predominantly male: 5,218 male students compared with 1,461 female students.


Greece the favourite destination abroad


There were 17,631 Cypriot students studying abroad in the academic year 2003/04, a rise of 7.7% on the previous year.

Greece remains the favourite destination, with 11,831 students. The number of Cypriots going to Greece to study has risen every year since 1995/96.

The UK remains the second favourite, with 2,806 students in the academic year 2003/04. However, although the number is higher than in 2004, it is lower than the peak year of 1998/99, when 3,073 students were studying in the UK.

Rising living costs, particularly for accommodation, may provide the explanation. Since Cyprus joined the EU in May 2004, Cypriots no longer have to pay the high “third-country national” fees at UK universities, therefore it will be interesting to see what impact this has on the 2004/05 figures.

The United States is the third favourite, with 1,245 students in 2003/04. However, this number has been falling every year since 1998/99.

Separate data show the impact of demographics on the country, with 61,731 children in primary education in 2003/04, compared with a peak of 64,761 in 1996/97.


Fiona Mullen