Education and culture, best investment for Cyprus

The domains of education and culture constitute the best investment for progress in the social, economic, intellectual and cultural fields in Cyprus, Minister of Education and Culture Andreas Demetriou has said.

Addressing a press conference on the occasion of the 18th International Education Fair, in Nicosia, Demetriou said this year's fair, titled ''Educational Reform – from theory to practice'', is dedicated to the hard efforts invested by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the society in general into the task of upgrading and modernizing the Cyprus educational system.

He added the fair has as a target to activate all citizens to respond to the challenges posed by the new European realities and create a progressive humane and democratic school which will provide all students with the necessary tools to face the challenges of the 21st century and of the so-called knowledge explosion with its unprecedented consequences.

Demetriou noted that within the framework of the preparation for the Presidency of the EU which Cyprus will assume in 2012, the Ministry will present the work of the Bureau of European and International Affairs which facilitates the prompt, adequate and efficient response of the Ministry of Education and Culture as regards issues that stem both from the international conventions of the Republic and its participation in the European Union and other international organizations.

''For the present Government the domains of education and culture constitute the best investment for progress in the social, economic, intellectual and cultural fields in Cyprus,'' Demetriou said, adding ''the achievement of our goal and vision will be the result of the implementation of the educational reform which will bring radical changes to the educational system as we know it today.