The education ministry announced on Tuesday that all students and staff members, as well as visitors to universities in Cyprus will be required to have a SafePass – or any other requirement that may be set by the government and/or health ministry decree – in order to access the premises during the winter semester.

“The decision was taken after assessing the current situation and the restrictions imposed in order to protect public health from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” the announcement said.

“The responsibility of making sure the measure is respected will lie with the university authorities.”

“The proper functioning of our higher education system is a major concern and priority of the education ministry,” the statement said.

“Based on the needs of their student population and taking into consideration at the same time the need to safeguard the quality of studies, the universities, can within the framework of their autonomy decide on their method of operation and set out their educational procedures for the winter academic semester 2021-2022,” it said.