Education

Cyprus has a young, well-educated talent pool. The country is committed to education and is focusing on reforms to achieve sustainable growth. Since 2004 Cyprus has consistently allocated over 6% of GDP of public expenditure on Education.

Great value for money

An average annual starting salary for a young graduate with a Bachelor Degree is €22,800. The employee will contribute €1,500 for social security, will pay €4,560 income tax. The employer will contribute €1500 to social security, for an average total labor cost, for such talent, of €24,300 per year.

There are 341 public and 29 private primary schools and 127 public and 38 private secondary schools (2009/10). Since 2005, Cyprus is in the top ten countries within the EU with the lowest pupil per teacher ratio of 11 pupils per teacher.

In 1996, Cyprus established the Cyprus Council for the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications (www.kysats.ac.cy) which oversees the implementation of standards in higher education in the three public, including one Open University, and four private Universities. Cyprus has more than 30 colleges and 200 accredited study programs.

With accession to the EU in 2004, to ensure the highest standards of quality in education, The Ministry of Education and Culture has harmonized the educational system of Cyprus with the European standards & guidelines. Cypriot educational institutes actively participate in EU programs, like the Eurydice Network and the ERASMUS program. Of all secondary students 88% speak English, 38% speak French.

Percentage of Population with Tertiary Education 2010

Source: Eurostat

According to Eurostat's data in 2010, 32.3% of the population in Cyprus in the 25-64 age bracket had tertiary education (held a Bachelor, Masters, or PhD degree) compared to EU27 (22.7%), thus making Cyprus having the highest percentage among the EU27 nations in that age bracket.