Less than a fifth of students in secondary education attend vocational education and training programmes, said President Nikos Christodoulides, in an address to the opening ceremony of the ninth national competition SkillsCyprus 2026. In Cyprus, only 17.9 per cent of students are in vocational education, drastically lower than the EU average of 52.4 per cent.

The European Commission’s recommendations for each member-state noted the steady and positive course of the Cyprus economy, but also recorded the challenges faced in the fields of productivity, innovation and skills, he said. The Commission saw a need in increasing the attractiveness of vocational education and training, something that successive Cyprus governments have failed to do despite persistent labour shortages.

Cyprus has faced a big shortage of electricians, plumbers, car mechanics, construction workers, decorators and equipment technicians for years. Although these are well-paid jobs, only a small percentage of young people are interested in them; there is now also a shortage of nurses. Is it because these are considered low-status jobs and everyone wants to be a white-collar worker, even if there is less money? Or perhaps the young are no longer interested in physical work.

University education always had great value in Cyprus. In the days when there were no universities in Cyprus, parents would make many sacrifices to send their children to universities abroad, because a degree was considered a surefire way of improving themselves, materially and socially. University education was never about broadening a youth’s horizons and sharpening their intellect, but about having the means to earn more money and acquiring social status.

Now that university degrees are widely available and many of them are of dubious value, most graduates are guaranteed neither high earning power nor the social status enjoyed in the past. But still, youngsters have no interest in plumbing or electrical work. Perhaps it is because the ambition of many is to get the dream job in the public service which does not have many openings for individuals with technical skills.

In his speech, Christodoulides mentioned the operation of the Technical Gymnasium, which he described as “an innovation that is a landmark in the Cypriot educational environment.” The institution had already expanded, a fact that illustrated the gap of not having such a special school which catered for the preferences of wishes of the students. He may have read too much significance into the existence of the Technical Gymnasium, because if the institution was such a success, it would have been expanded, and we would not have lowest participation in vocational learning in the EU.

At least the government, despite the president’s positive spin, recognises there is a problem that needs to be tackled. There are no ready solutions, and it will be difficult to change the way society views manual jobs. This is why the government needs to study the issue and develop a plan to attract more youths to vocational training.

The coordinating committee of the Federation of Environmental Organisations of Cyprus (Opok) supported the residents of Mitsero who oppose the setting up of an asphalt production plant in an area close to the village.

Opok said that as the area already hosted quarries, livestock farms, slaughterhouses and waste treatment activities, the addition of a new unit would intensify concerns about the quality of the air, protection of nature and the daily life of residents. It said that “the dust from the quarries, the bad smells, the emissions of production and the movement of heavy trucks should be evaluated together as the residents experience all these pressures simultaneously.”

Residents, supported by environmental groups, have been fighting against the establishment of the asphalt plant for years. In September 2023 they won a legal battle against the government, with the administrative court cancelling the permit for an asphalt plant, but that was not the end of the matter. In June this year, an application for an interim order to suspend the work on the asphalt plant, pending an appeal against the issuing of a planning permit, was rejected. The supreme court will now issue a decision on the validity of the planning permit.

Campaigners are demanding that an independent environmental impact study is carried out and an assessment of the effect on people’s health. They argue that because of the presence of other industries in the area, there is a cumulative environmental impact and that this puts the health of residents at risk. It should be noted that the asphalt plant had been operating near Dhali village and the decision to relocate it was taken after protests by the residents of the surrounding area.

As a result, the authorities are on shaky ground. If the plant was moved away from the Dhali area because of people’s protests, why should people living in Mitsero and surrounding villages (residents of several nearby villages are fighting against the plant’s relocation) accept it in their area? It probably will not be situated as close to the residential areas as it was in Dhali, but this will not reassure people.

The question is whether the plant will have all the necessary anti-pollution mechanisms to ensure it does not pollute the air of the area. We assume that no planning permit would have been issued by the authorities without all anti-pollution requirements satisfied and if this is the case, the residents’ protests would be unjustified. In fact, this is what Opok and other environmental groups should be campaigning for instead of mindlessly opposing the operation of any industry. Opok is essentially arguing that there should be no asphalt plant anywhere in Cyprus which is absurd.

What residents and green campaigners should be calling for is the enforcement of strict anti-pollution regulations at all factories and plants where they are not in place, because the country cannot function without industry

Playing host to the Famagusta municipal council at the presidential palace on Monday, President Nikos Christodoulides said that his proposal about the fenced area of Famagusta, was still on the table despite the other side having rejected it. He also dismissed criticism that he had revived an old proposal – a similar one had been made by President Tassos Papadopoulos in 2005 – because he had built on that.

He also made the contentious claim that the old proposal “had advanced considerably and we were close to having a result.” According to the proposal, which was the same as that made 21 years ago, the fenced area of Famagusta would be handed over to the UN who would oversee the return of the town’s legal inhabitants and in exchange Famagusta port would be opened under the authority of the EU.

The obvious question is, how could a proposal that was rejected by the other side still be on the table? Was the president just telling the Famagusta mayor and councilors what they wanted to hear? And although his proposal was rejected, he told his guests: “It is an issue that I want us to discuss today and to see how we can enrich it, shape and change it so that with your contribution we can have a positive result, because I consider it would be that issue we are looking for at this moment – if we all want to prove that we mean in practice that we are working for a solution of the Cyprus problem – bold confidence-building measures.”

There was no announcement informing us whether the Famagusta municipal council enriched the president’s proposal, which was rejected but was still on the table, during Monday’s meeting. Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis, however, claimed the proposal for the fenced area of Famagusta was “absolutely aligned with the priorities set by the UN Secretary General.”

Surely, the priorities of the UNSG are agreement on the seven confidence-building measures he set as conditions for the process moving to the next stage, which would be 5+1 meeting. There has been no agreement on any of the proposed measures, so why would he introduce a much more complicated measure that would require years of negotiation to reach an agreement?

If the president is as keen as he claims on securing the resumption of talks, why does he not agree on the UN-proposed CBMs? This would open the way to the broad conference that he has been angling for, and possibly a resumption of talks, before the UN Secretary-General steps down at the end of the year. Does he not realise that coming up with new proposals every week achieves nothing other than delaying agreements on the actual measures that are key for any progress?