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Education takes up a good part of our lives, while what we do with it usually influences what we do with the next big chunk of our future.
It is not an exact science, somethings we are good at, others not so much, we either stumble our way to the next step or we are guided – if you are lucky – to where we should be based on our ability.
A lot of people can’t wait to leave school to get a proper job and start earning their independence, while others know if they climb the ladder a bit further up, there will be better rewards.
The Cyprus job market is a tough one, where talent and ability aren’t always the criteria you are judged on or paid for.
Most families of a middle income expect their children to pursue further education on their way to a professional career that will provide them with status coupled with financial stability.
Education is the train we travel on to help us progress on our journey to adulthood and social expectations; studying is the entry code to the labour market, but this is not to say job satisfaction is guaranteed.
There’s plenty of archaeologists, sociologists and art historians working in call centres or fast food chains – no shame in that.
Then again, arguably, education should also be more about self-development not only the size of your paycheque.
Nevertheless, further education is seen as the best pathway for those who want options and opportunities in the post-university landscape.
Some parents look to find an edge by sending their children to private schools orientated toward entry into UK, European or US universities where the standards are perceived to be higher with a reputation to match.
Most Cypriot parents are education-orientated, the majority may not be able to afford private school fees, but they will invest in after-school private tuition to ensure their kids get the grades they need.
Having said that, parents feeling the need to send their children to after-school lessons is a sad indictment of the state system that needs a flourishing industry to fill in the gaps that children should be learning at school.
Private tuition is not just for students doing extra-curriculum subjects or exam revision but an extension of the school day which suggests there is something drastically wrong, even factoring that Cypriots are competitive animals bordering on obsession.
While many feel the state system can’t be trusted, private schools have thrived, although free education isn’t what it says on the label. A flourishing cottage industry of private lessons depends on the malfunction of state schools.
There is an invisible class divide where those with financial clout have an advantage in sending their children to private schools, foreign universities or pay for private lessons if they attend state schools.
Students without any financial back-up just have to pray their DNA will get them through it.
Bravely, Cyprus University and the Cyprus University of Technology seek to bridge the divide between public and private education by offering vacant places to students with international grades like GCE A Levels.
These places are vacant and being filled by a student from the other side of the tracks – so to speak – will not deprive someone a place via the Pancyprian exams.
The two state universities have realized that barring Cypriot students with high-standard qualifications via a different educational route is discriminatory.
Such a move also understands that circumstances change for some families who can no longer afford to send their children to a UK or US university as the cost is prohibitive.
Also widening the talent pool of a university is no bad thing as it helps to raise standards and aspirations.
And shouldn’t state universities look to diversify by encouraging a different cultural mix and the best students around – Cypriot or foreign.
Teacher and student unions don’t seem to think so, they slammed the decision as “arbitrary and illegal” and want it reversed.
They argue the decision discriminates against state school students who took the Pancyprian exam and smacks of preferential treatment for the haves.
Even the attorney-general has been called in to rule on the legality of such as a move, even though the universities supposedly have autonomy over their admissions policy.
Are the protesters suggesting that Cypriots who go to fee-paying schools have no rights or that they are of a lesser god for taking international exams?
The unwritten message seems to be “we don’t want these foreigners at our state universities”.
Why the huge fuss by teachers when these places are left over after the allocation process has been completed and relates to a handful of places.
Such students should be seen as an asset not a threat to the universities, or maybe the teachers are worried about losing a nice little earner.
They make a solid income from preparing kids for the entry exams while they preside over a system that fails to achieve the highest standards of attainment.
This is, presumably, something that doesn’t need to be flagged as a matter of concern, unlike the few students trying to improve their future.
