The introduction of undergraduate programmes in foreign languages at Cyprus’ public universities will “undermine” the Pancyprian examinations, unions said on Friday.

Teachers’ unions Oelmek and Oltek, the secondary school parents’ confederation, and high school pupils’ union Psem jointly declared that the aim of the government’s push for foreign language education at the two public universities is to create a “second way” of admitting Cypriot students to public universities.

“Our opposition focuses on the fact that the proposed regulations undermine the Pancyprian examinations, an institution which is inviolable and has been recognised for decades in the public consciousness as the way Cypriots access public universities,” they said.

They added that the teaching of foreign language programmes will allow for the public universities to accept students who instead of the Pancyprian examinations took British ‘A’ Level examinations, as a “parallel admission system”.

They said they believe that if people are allowed to “circumvent” the Pancyprian examinations to enter university by taking another set of examinations, this will lead to “the unequal treatment of graduates of public schools in relation to graduates of private schools”.

This is because typically, private school pupils take ‘A’ Levels or other overseas high school examinations with the aim of gaining access to universities overseas, and that having the opportunity to enter public education at university would be unfair on those who attended public schools.

“Our positions are not directed against policies which will open up public higher education in our country towards attracting students from overseas or to an effort to internationalise public universities,” they said.

To this end, they pointed out that “English-language postgraduate programmes have existed at public universities for years, even if to date there are very few international students studying there, with figures in the single digits, while the authorities refuse to submit the relevant data both to parliament and to the public”.

The education ministry has already promised that the current admission process for Greek-language programmes at public universities will remain unaffected in the event that foreign language programmes are introduced.

Earlier, Cyprus’ two public universities, the University of Cyprus and the Cyprus University of Technology (Tepak), both promised that the introduction of foreign language programmes “does not undermine public schools”, instead asking whether the schools themselves are doing enough to prepare children for the outside world.

“Do public schools adequately prepare our young people for the demands of today and tomorrow? If they do not, it is obviously not because legislation is being prepared to introduce foreign language programmes which are not currently offered,” the universities began.

“We are in an era in which universities, especially in Europe, are investing in becoming more international, competing with each other,” they said, adding that this is “particularly true at the level at which our universities belong.

“The question is simple: do we want to move forward, or to be held hostage by vested interests and fears? This question must be answered clearly and answered now,” they said.