On Monday,11th of December 2023 this week, the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports of Greece Kyriakos Pierrakakis, visited Cyprus and had meetings with his Cypriot counterpart Dr. Athina Michaelidou, the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth. He also met with the Rectors of Cyprus Universities including the University of Limassol, where Rector is Professor Theodore Panayotou who taught Minister Pierrakakis economics and public policy at Harvard University 16 years ago. An outstanding student, Minister Pierrakakis earned a Master in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 2007 and a Master of Science in Technology and Policy from MIT in 2009. In the first Mitsotakis government, Mr. Pierrakakis was Minister of State and Digital Governance.
The meeting of former student and professor after 16 years was both thrilling and emotional. At the same time, it is emblematic of two careers that crossed again, this time in their respective countries: the one being the Rector of the youngest private university in Cyprus, the university of Limassol; he other being the visionary Minister of Education of Greece who will bring about a historic change in the higher education of his country permitting private universities to be established.
The meeting with the Rectors took place at the University of Cyprus where Minister Pierrakakis was accompanied by the Cyprus Minister of Education and the Greek Ambassador. The Greek Minister said that, based on EU law, the government will soon present legislation allowing the operation of private universities to take advantage of a great potential that Greece has not tapped yet, while Cyprus has done so successfully for almost 20 years, with 9 private universities so far, the University of Limassol being a recent addition.
He acknowledged the possible adverse effects of this legislation on Cyprus Universities that draw large numbers of students from Greece, especially in their online programs. At the same time, he pointed out the great opportunities of collaboration of Cypriot Universities with Greek Universities, private and public, for mutual benefit. He stressed that his Ministry will encourage and support such collaborations in joint programs, research, faculty and student exchanges.
The meeting of former student and professor after 16 years was both thrilling and emotional. At the same time, it is emblematic of two careers that crossed again, this time in their respective countries: the one being the Rector of the youngest private university in Cyprus, the university of Limassol; he other being the visionary Minister of Education of Greece who will bring about a historic change in the higher education of his country permitting private universities to be established.
Professor Panayotou complimented his former student for his visionary policies and expressed his confidence that Minister Pierrakakis will give a big boost to both research policy and the digital transformation of education, considering both his educational and professional background, stressing, at the same time, the commitment of the University of Limassol to seek active collaboration with Greek universities.
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