Filenews 11 December 2024 - by Despina Psillou
Problems are faced by Cypriots graduating from Russian universities, who return to our country and do not have their degree recognized, despite the fact that Cyprus and Russia have signed an intergovernmental agreement on mutual recognition of diplomas. This issue was examined in the Education Committee of the Parliament, with one graduate, Kyriakos Kyriakou, referring to the impasse in which Russia's medical graduates find themselves. He stressed that he has a medical degree with an additional 37 courses compared to that of the University of Cyprus and yet he was not recognized.
Mr. Kyriacou noted that there was a letter from the Ministry of Education for the recognition of degrees from Russia, however, returning from his studies, he did not see any historical interstate recognition agreement between the two countries, as it had been presented in 2016.
He, he said, must take three courses for his degree to be recognized in Cyprus. "The equivalent is 98% to the medical degree of the University of Cyprus. The difference lies in English and sociology. But my degree has 37 additional courses." In other EU countries, including Italy, they are immediately recognised for this diploma. In this position, he underlined, there are other graduates and more Cypriots will be found in the future, with the Russian Embassy in Cyprus telling him that only this year 30 Cypriots went to study.
On behalf of KYSATS, it was underlined that the intention is to help all graduates. "There is no political connotation to the issue," Council President Constantinos Christou said.
KYSATS, he said, gives two recognitions: a) parity b) parity – equivalence. At some point, equivalence alone is enough, he said and clarified that equivalence is based on the curriculum of the corresponding degree of the University of Cyprus. If there is no corresponding department at the University of Cyprus, they see what is happening in Greece, if there is not, they see what is happening in the EU.
When a degree comes from a university in a third country, then an opinion is sought from professors. "This practice has been followed for years. An erratic process for very important universities whose courses could not be recognized. We found ourselves in a very difficult position not to recognise diplomas. That's why we made them take additional courses at the University of Cyprus to have their degrees recognized," Christou said.
He pointed out that not all universities follow the same curriculum, even if they come from the same country. England would also be recognised as a third country, he said.
Qualifications and criteria are requested by the Cyprus Medical Council. There needs to be a gradation, a categorization. Degrees from reputable universities do not need anything else, for everything else where there is doubt graduates sit an exam.
On behalf of the Ministry of Education, it was mentioned that KYSATS operates autonomously.
