Our View: Cyprus must rethink its attitude to vocational education

Less than a fifth of students in secondary education attend vocational education and training programmes, said President Nikos Christodoulides, in an address to the opening ceremony of the ninth national competition SkillsCyprus 2026. In Cyprus, only 17. 9 per cent of students are in vocational education, drastically lower than the EU average of 52. 4 per cent. The European Commission’s recommendations for each member-state noted the steady and positive course of the Cyprus economy, but also recorded the challenges faced in the fields of productivity, innovation and skills, he said. The Commission saw a need in increasing the attractiveness of vocational education and training, something that successive Cyprus governments have failed to do despite persistent labour shortages.

Cyprus has faced a big shortage of electricians, plumbers, car mechanics, construction workers, decorators and equipment technicians for years. Although these are well-paid jobs, only a small percentage of young people are interested in them; there is now also a shortage of nurses. Is it because these are considered low-status jobs and everyone wants to be a white-collar worker, even if there is less money? Or perhaps the young are no longer interested in physical work. University education always had great value in Cyprus. In the days when there were no universities in Cyprus, parents would make many sacrifices to send their children to universities abroad, because a degree was considered a surefire way of improving themselves, materially and socially. University education was never about broadening a youth’s horizons and sharpening their intellect, but about having the means to earn more money and acquiring social status. Now that university degrees are widely available and many of them are of…