Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Charalambos Vrasidas work of teachers. One of the major fields in which the the issue took place in 2002 when the Ministry
Sotiris Themistokleous successful or unsuccessful inclusion of immigrants of Education and Culture sent a circular to public
Michalinos Zembylas is tested in Cyprus is the education system. schools (titled Intercultural Education). This circular
CARDET attempted to present the Government’s policy on
Education and immigrants in Cyprus intercultural education. The issues on which the
Following the division of the island in 1974, the policy focused included the provision of measures
The island of Cyprus has historically been character- process of homogenisation within each of the for language support (e.g., the teaching of Greek as
ised by diversity and multiculturalism. During the late two major communities in Cyprus (i.e., the Greek a second language to non-indigenous students) and
1990s, Cyprus rapidly shifted from a state experi- Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots) has intensified for the provision of measures to facilitate the smooth
encing emigration, to an immigrant recipient country. political reasons. This has been the basis for the integration of non-indigenous students into the
International developments in the economic and development of a monocultural education system Greek-Cypriot education system and society. These
political arena have significantly affected the policies within the education system of the Greek Cypriots language provisions – which are still in place – do not
of Cyprus on migration. The collapse of the Soviet and Turkish Cypriots (Zembylas, in press). Of the seem sufficient to equally serve all students regard-
Bloc, the escalating globalisation of the neo-liberal current inhabitants, 13.7 per cent are non-Cypriots less of ethnicity, origin and religion (Zembylas, in
model, Cyprus’s accession to the EU and domestic (Statistical Service of the Republic of Cyprus, 2006). press). However, it is important to acknowledge
economic progress in certain sectors (e.g., tourism The changing profile of the population in Cyprus has that there are a few ‘multicultural’ schools that
and construction) led Cyprus to reconsider its restric- affected the schools and the education system. In manage to demonstrate remarkable results in terms
tive approach to immigration. The vast majority of the 1995/96 school year, the percentage of non- of the successful inclusion of immigrant students
immigrants come to the island as low-skilled and indigenous students was 4.41 per cent; in 2007/08 (Demetriou, 2009).
service oriented workers, attracted by the needs of this percentage rose to 7.7 per cent (Ministry of In 2004, a Commission for Educational Reform
the domestic labour market (Trimikliniotis, 2008). Education and Culture, 2007a & 2007b). There are (2004) was appointed by the Government to oversee
Cyprus’s sudden shift to an immigrant host country now some Cypriot schools where non-indigenous the process of developing and implementing
caught the Government of Cyprus and the society students constitute a significant majority (80 to education reform in public schools. This Commission
unprepared for the socioeconomic challenges and 90%). expressed concern about the narrowly ethnocentric
opportunities that immigrants have brought to the Although Cyprus offers free education to all and culturally monolithic Cypriot education system,
island (Mainwaring, 2008). As a result, immigrants of its residents, including migrants’ children, it has which did not account for intercultural education.
are facing racism, xenophobia, political and civic a very poor record for an intercultural approach in According to Zembylas and Iasonos (in press), the
exclusion, and marginalisation. its curriculum and education system (Zembylas, in measures and policies suggested and implemented
It is currently estimated that 160,000 third press). Many migrant children also face exclusion by the Ministry were considered inadequate by the
country migrants and 60,000 EU citizens live and marginalisation due to the status of their parents Commission because they primarily targeted non-
in Cyprus (Trimikliniotis, 2008). Immigrants are (Trimikliniotis & Demetriou, 2007). For example, there indigenous students and their Greek ‘language defi-
often depicted as a ‘burden’ on the social and have been cases where schools have requested to ciency’, while neglecting wider issues of nationalism,
economic sectors of the country. An example is see the parent’s ‘residence permit’ before enrolling a racism and intolerance. The European Commis-
the discourse used by the media and police when child. Although the issue was resolved by the Attorney sion against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI, 2006)
identifying undocumented immigrants. They call General and a circular sent to all teachers, there is emphasised the lack of thorough understanding of,
such processes ‘operation broom’, implying that the still confusion and uncertainty about the rights of and genuine sensitivity to, human rights by many
police are ‘cleaning’ the island. Such perceptions and migrant children. Therefore, ‘equal opportunities for teachers. Research conducted in Cyprus demon-
practices are a reflection of the overall political and all children’ remains an unfulfilled goal in Cyprus. strated that the policies enforced both at the philo-
legal immigration framework. Immigrants’ residence In light of experiences in other European countries sophical and practical level are mostly grounded in
in Cyprus is characterised by transition, uncertainty that show that second-generation immigrants are the notion of assimilation rather than integration,
and, in most cases, temporality. Immigrants are more likely to feel alienated within the host country’s and that the education system views the diversity of
often exploited by employers as they can only stay society (Gregg, 2006), it is important to pay attention non-indigenous children as a deficiency that needs
in the country if they are working or studying at a to those policies that will make inclusion successful to be treated quickly so that these children can be
local university or college. In recent years, policies for these vulnerable groups. Research shows that assimilated (Angelides et al., 2004; Panayiotopoulos
directed towards immigrants have been established; second generation immigrants demonstrate lower & Nicolaidou, 2007; Zembylas, in Press).
however, most of these are legalistic and regulatory performance in school than first generation (EC, The model of intercultural education currently
in nature, ignoring the social issues (Triandafyllidou 2008). Hence, it is crucial that children of immigrants being implemented in Cyprus elementary schools
& Gropas, 2007, pp. 45, 57). are given the opportunity to effectively participate in is a mainstreaming programme in which language
In relation to education, migration leads to an education and society. learners attend classes with indigenous Greek-
increase in diversity in schools. This transforma- Intercultural education is relatively new to speaking children. Following the example of the
tion has created new challenges for the education Cypriot schools. According to Zembylas and Iasonos French Zones Educatif Priorité, a number of public
system in Cyprus and has had a major impact on the (in press), the first serious attempt to address schools in Cyprus have become part of a Zone of