Number leaving school early in Cyprus falls

Early school leavers in Cyprus dropped by three percentage points in the past decade, falling from 11 per cent in 2012 to eight per cent in 2022, Eurostat figures revealed on Tuesday.  

This means Cyprus has met the EU target of reducing the rates of early school leavers to below nine per cent by 2030.

Early school leavers are young people aged 18-24 leaving early from education and training, which has steadily decreased in the EU in the past 10 years, going from 13 per cent in 2012 to 10 per cent in 2022.

In Cyprus, nine per cent of boys left education early, compared to seven per cent of girls. This marks a significant decrease for boys, was in 2012 the number was 17 per cent.

Across the EU, data revealed more young men left education and training early compared to women in 2022. This was 11 per cent of men against eight per cent of women.

In 2022, the EU members that reported the lowest shares of early leavers from education and training were Croatia (two per cent), Ireland, Slovenia and Greece (each four per cent), Poland and Lithuania (each five per cent). 

In contrast, the highest shares were recorded in Romania (16 per cent), Spain (14 per cent), Hungary, Germany and Italy (each 12 per cent).