Filenews 18 July 2024 - by Angelos Nicolaou
The upgrade of the Cyprus Forestry College (DKK) to a School of Higher Education takes shape in September 2025 following yesterday's decision of the Council of Ministers to proceed with the re-offer of the forestry program offered in the past.
Essentially, the Forest College in Prodromos will reopen 10 years after its closure in 2015. It was then that the last foresters graduated, completing the Diploma in Forestry. A decade later, the curriculum becomes three years and will be a revised and updated version of the program, which will now be a Higher Diploma in Forestry. Its graduates will not have direct entry into the Civil Service, as was the case in the past, but will be able to claim a position.
The reopening of the course of studies in Forestry is expected to contribute to the proper staffing and proper operation of the Department of Forests, especially with regard to the fire protection of state forests and the countryside.
The Cyprus Forestry College is a public school of higher education, which is part of the Department of Forests (DF) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment. It was founded in 1951 by the then British colonial government, with the aim of properly training officials who would staff the DF, as well as foresters from Commonwealth countries and elsewhere.
Presenting the issue before the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Agriculture, Maria Panayiotou, made it clear that with the suspension of the offer of the study program "Diploma in Forestry" by the CPR in 2015 and therefore the interruption for nine years of the graduation of young people, the staffing of the non-scientific structure (structure of Forest Officers) of the DF was dramatically affected. From 2015 onwards, the CPR, after being certified by the Human Resource Development Authority (HRDA) as a Vocational Training Center (VTC), as well as a Vocational Training Structure (VET), focused almost exclusively on providing in-service education and training to meet the needs of the DP, while, at the same time, it offered and continues to offer until today trainings to meet the needs of learning and other State Services, groups of organized groups, as well as individuals.
Panayiotou noted that the suspension of the Forestry College curriculum in 2015 was a consequence of the economic crisis. This suspension, he noted, combined with the prolonged freezing of recruitment due to the economic crisis, has resulted in severe understaffing and the improper operation of the Department, which has consequences on the exercise of proper, effective and sustainable management of Cypriot forests, with the problem being particularly serious and difficult in relation to dealing with forest fires. In order to solve the problem, it was deemed necessary to reoffer the curriculum leading to the acquisition of a Higher Diploma in Forestry, as the required academic qualification for the position of Forest Officer.
The CPR has elaborated a comprehensive proposal for a new curriculum for obtaining a Higher Diploma in Forestry (3 years, with 186 ECTS, Conventional), in accordance with the provisions of the "Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education and the Establishment and Operation of an Agency on Related Issues Law of 2015 (136(I)/2015)", which was submitted on 23/10/2023 to the competent Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education (CYQAA) for evaluation and certification. The evaluation and accreditation procedures of the program of study were completed on 17/6/2024, with a decision of the Council of the CYQAA for the accreditation of the relevant program, with Greek as the language of instruction. The offer of the program is expected to begin in September 2025, with the beginning of the academic year 2025-2026. At the same time, as of January 2025, the CPR will open its gates to offer education and training programs addressed to Non-Governmental Organizations, communities, citizens and staff of the DF and other government services.
In addition, the issue of the probationary period of the persons who will be recruited by the National Forestry Service in the position of Trainee Forest Officer in Kl. A3, since the probationary period according to the Public Service Laws concerns only 2 years, while attendance at the CPR concerns a period of 3 years, during which the trainee Forest Officers should be under probation.
890 students from 48 countries graduated in its 64 years of operation
Since its establishment in 1951, the Cyprus Forestry College has been operating as the only higher education institution in Cyprus on forestry issues and has been a regional training centre in the forestry sector for the training of staff of both the Department of Forests and other interested forest services from abroad.
The Forestry College offered three courses of study, the three-year, the upper semester and the short-term course. Since its establishment until 2015, a total of 890 students have attended the above courses, of which 541 Cypriot and 349 foreign students from 48 different countries from all over the world: Belize, Botswana, Dominica, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Nigeria, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Trinidad, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Guyana, Western Samoa, Saint Lucia, Hong Kong, Bahamas, Swaziland, Malta, Kenya, Burundi, Barbados, Sierra Leone, Laos, Nepal, Maldives, Cameroon, Spain, Namibia, Liberia, Bhutan, Antigua, Saint Helena Island, Pakistan and Malawi.
In 2013, following a decision of the Council of Ministers (dated 20/2/13), the recruitment of new students at the Forestry College was suspended and therefore the existing students completed the three-year course of studies in 2014 and 2015.
The Council of Ministers, by decision in 2015 (dated 1/7/2015), suspended the offer of the three-year course of studies and other relevant courses to the Forestry College until a different decision is taken.
Since 2015, the Forestry College continues to operate as an Educational – Training Center within the framework of the Action Plan approved by the Council of Ministers (dated 20/2/18), offering education and training to both the staff of the Department of Forests and staff of other government departments and services as well as individuals.
Since 2018, the Forest College has undertaken the management of the Learning Core of the Department of Forests by preparing annual learning activity plans that include learning activities to meet identified educational needs.
By decision of the Council of Ministers (dated 4/9/19), the initiation of the process of upgrading the Forestry College to a School of Higher Education of Technical / Vocational Direction and the submission to the Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education (CYQAA) of study programs to be offered by the Forestry College for evaluation and certification were approved.
By decision of the Council of Ministers (dated 17/7/2024), a re-offer of the "Higher Diploma in Forestry" Curriculum is approved by the CPR in September 2025.
