Education is the government's number one priority, President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday morning during a conference on Digital Education in Nicosia, noting that all the issues that the government has to deal with at the moment, such as the national issue, the economy and public health, start from education.

In his address at the opening of the conference, and referring to the education system, President Christodoulides said that we need to move away from a state of affairs where the primary goal is to cover syllabus but rather to focus on developing skills, knowledge and shaping attitudes, based on inclusion, unrestricted access to learning, as well as the safe and responsible use of digital technologies.

To this end, the President continued, the government is promoting plans based on priorities decided at European level, such as the European Commission's Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027, which sets out as strategic priorities the development of a high-performance digital education ecosystem and the strengthening of digital skills and competences for digital transformation.

He added that the government’s education programme seeks to accelerate the digital transformation of schools, strengthen the infrastructure and technological equipment of schools for all students, harness digital technologies for inclusive and non-discriminatory teaching and learning, develop digital competences and integrate them into curricula at all levels.

He added that in the above context, reform actions of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, are underway and in particular, with a horizon of 2026 and with the use of European funds amounting to €13.8 million, the government aims to implement a plan to fully upgrade digital equipment in schools by creating 6,600 digital classrooms, transforming curricula, developing educational materials to enhance digital skills and STEM-related skills, providing grants for the purchase of portable digital devices by primary and secondary school students, and training and professional development opportunities for teachers on the integration of new technologies.

In her address, Minister of Education Athena Michaelidou said that all the actions of the Ministry fall within the priorities of the European Commission based on the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027, as well as the policy document of the Ministry of Education, which will be updated and communicated soon, in full cooperation with the Ministry of Research and Innovation, with the aim of supporting learning and education for lifelong acquisition of competences in an inclusive education framework.

She added that the Ministry's key projects related to policy support funding through the Recovery Fund concern digital transformation in schools, a €14 million programme related to the skills and competencies of students and teachers, a grant for the purchase of a tablet-type computer in primary and secondary education, the creation of digital classrooms and the transformation of curricula.

The second major project of the Ministry is e-governance at school, in cooperation and interconnection with the central Ministry authority, Michaelidou continued, explaining that it is an electronic platform, the Services Management System.

She added that very soon the Ministry will be able to proceed with the full implementation of its plans concerning a computerised education system, aiming at the continuous information of teachers, the improvement of the school units’ management, the support of teachers with materials, the processing of daily administrative needs and the supply of necessary equipment.

The Minister added that the budget of the project amounts to more than 20 million euros, one of the largest interventions of this kind, financed by the European Regional Development Fund and national resources.

Themis Christofidou, Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission, also addressed the conference in a recorded message, in which she mentioned that 34 out of 100 pupils in the EU record low performance in digital skills, 54 out of 100 people aged 16-74 have the minimum basic digital skills, while only 39 out of 100 teachers feel adequately prepared for the use of digital technologies.

She added that it is a positive sign that digital education represents 1/3 of the education budget in the EU Member Statesnational recovery and resilience plans, adding that efforts at European level are focused on the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027, being a key factor in the realisation of the European Education Area and contributing to the just launched European Year of Skills, including 14 actions and focusing on teachers.