Procedures through which services are provided to citizens/businesses
Secondary General Education: General Information, Goals, registrations
General information
Secondary general education in state schools, which is based on the socioeconomic, cultural and national needs of Cyprus, provides equal education opportunities and aims to impart knowledge, focusing on general education and gradual specialisation, in order to prepare students for their academic or professional orientation. The aim is to encourage the development of healthy, intellectual and ethical individuals, to create competent, democratic and law-abiding citizens, to consolidate the national identity, cultural values and global ideals of freedom, justice and peace and to cultivate love and respect for other people with the aim of promoting mutual understanding and cooperation between people and nations.
Beneficiaries
Secondary general education is provided to students aged 12 to 18, in two 3 year cycles, one in lower secondary school (gymnasium) and one in upper secondary school (lyceum). Attendance is free for all classes and is compulsory up to the age of 15 or completion of lower secondary school, whichever is the sooner.
Registrations/transfers
Registrations and transfers in state schools are governed by the State Secondary Schools Regulations 2017 (Regulatory Administrative Act 60/2017). Students are registered by their parents or guardian or their authorised representative with the school in the education district in which the family is permanently resident by the deadlines set by the competent authority. Students can only be registered with a school in a different education district with permission from the District Chief Education Officer or the Director of Secondary Technical and Vocational Education, depending on the type of school.
Students who completed their primary education in a state school are registered in Year 1 of lower secondary school on presentation of their primary school leaving certificate and birth certificate. Students who failed to pass that year and students who passed written examinations to enter that year are also registered. For the other lower secondary and upper secondary years, students who move up a year, students who failed to pass the year and students who passed written examinations to enter the year are also registered, on presentation of a study certificate showing that they qualify to register. The age limits for registration in lower and upper secondary school are laid down in Regulation 12(9)(a) and (b).
Students from the same type of private primary school are registered in Year 1 of lower secondary school without passing written examinations to enter that year. Students from a similar or different type of private primary school, including schools abroad, must pass written examinations in Modern Greek and History in order to enter that year.
Students who do not speak Greek are enrolled in special Greek language courses organised by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth and, where necessary, in transition reception classes, with the aim of ensuring their seamless integration into the education system in accordance with circulars issued by the competent authority.
Students can only transfer to a similar school in another education district for the specific reasons listed in Regulation 14.
At the end of the school year, every student who moves up a year or leaves is given an indicative certificate for the year (Year 1 and Year 2) or a school leaving certificate (Year 3). The school leaving certificate is printed on a standard form issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth.
Citizens can discuss registration and transfer issues with the District Office in each district.
