AG rules that UCy decision on transfer students was wrong, minister says

A University of Cyprus (UCy) decision to transfer back private-school students who had been accepted at third-level institutions abroad based on their GCE results, violates the law, Education Minister Costas Kadis said on Monday.

Speaking on state radio, he said the matter was settled following advice from Attorney-general Costas Clerides who decreed, according to Kadis that UCy’s decision was wrong.

UCy was admitting a small number who had been accepted by another university abroad based on their GCE results and then they would transfer on to UCy.

When the issue first arose earlier this year, it sparked a heated debate at the time with MP’s and parents crying foul, saying only students who pass the Pancyprian entrance exams should be admitted to the university as this was the law.

“The ministry had expressed reservations (at the time)…. and the response (by the AG) justifies the reservations we had. The procedure UCy followed was not correct,” Kadis said.

Nevertheless, the ministry and the university were now working together, along with the Cyprus University of Technology (TEPAK) for a new bill that would allow students from private schools to enter public universities.

Some three or four students that were enrolled at UCy through the system that was later recalled will remain at the university, Kadis reassured.

The bill is “approachable” for private school students that wish to enter public universities and are not familiar with the Pancyprian examinations system, he added without divulging any more details.

It is now being reviewed by the legal services before heading to the plenum, Kadis said.