Cyprus
STRUCTURE OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEM
Source: Eurydice 2022/23
The vast majority of schools, in both primary and secondary education, in the Republic of Cyprus are public schools operated by the state. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth has sole responsibility for the educational curricula. In addition to public/state schools, there are three types of private schools: identical type, similar type and different type. Identical type schools follow the same curriculum as public schools. Similar type schools partly follow the national curriculum, and are free to implement aspects of their own curriculum.
Different type schools follow their own curriculum. Some similar and different type schools develop their own curricula, while others implement curricula (or aspects of them) developed by other authorities/bodies, usually the educational authorities of another country (e.g. the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation or the English national curriculum GCSE and A-Level curricula). There are also some public schools for students from the Armenian and Maronite communities of Cyprus. These schools also follow the national curriculum and implement some aspects of their own, developed by the schools14. Education in the Republic of Cyprus is divided into four stages: preschool education (ages 3-6), primary education (ages 6-12), lower secondary education (ages 12-15) and higher secondary education (ages 15-18).*
For more information on the national education system in Cyprus, please visit:
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth
*OHTE Thematic report on "Pandemics and natural disasters as reflected in history teaching"
HISTORY IN SCHOOL
Data are currently being collected for the OHTE general report.
In state schools, the teaching of history is prescribed by a national history curriculum which describes specific learning outcomes in terms of substantive knowledge and a disciplinary understanding of history. In preprimary education, history is taught as one aspect of an integrated subject, social studies.*
*OHTE Thematic report on "Pandemics and natural disasters as reflected in history teaching"
HISTORY CURRICULUM
Data are currently being collected for the OHTE general report.
In terms of content, the curriculum for preschool education focuses on personal and family history (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth 2020). Besides the teaching of topics related to personal and family history, the curriculum includes learning outcomes related to the development of ideas of time, change and continuity, causes and consequences, historical significance and historical empathy (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth 2020). History is also not taught in the first two years of primary education (years 1-2), but is a distinct subject in the last four years of primary education (years 3-6). History is also taught as a distinct subject in lower secondary education (years 7-9) and in upper secondary education (years 10-12).
There are two routes for the subject of history (and also other subjects) in upper secondary education: “Common core history” and “Specialisation history”. The amount of time allocated to specialisation history is substantially higher than the time allocated to common core history.
History textbooks in Cyprus are published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth (for the teaching of Cypriot history) and the Greek Ministry of Education (for the teaching of Greek history). Both Greek and Greek Cypriot textbooks have the status of official textbooks and are provided to all public schools by the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth.*
Curricula workstation by GEI (History curricula search by country)
*OHTE Thematic report on "Pandemics and natural disasters as reflected in history teaching"
LEARNING OUTCOMES AND ASSESSMENT
Data are currently being collected for the OHTE general report.
This section will contain information on the learning outcomes set for history lessons within the different levels of education and on the methods of testing and assessment used in history examinations.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES AND PEDAGOGY USED IN THE HISTORY CLASSROOM
Data are currently being collected for the OHTE general report.
This section will host data on the study material and teaching practices used for history teaching within the different levels of education.
International TextbookCat (GEI collection of Textbooks and Educational Media)
HISTORY TEACHERS
Data are currently being collected for the OHTE general report.
This section will provide an overview of the number of history teachers within the different levels of education, as well as relevant information on teachers’ initial training and in-service training available to them.
Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (presentation by EuroClio)
Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (official website)
THEMATIC DATA
The Observatory on History Teaching in Europe also provides thematic studies on given topics.
2022: Pandemics and natural disasters as reflected in history teaching
