Chairman of the Education Committee: “We are impressed by the University's infrastructure and the great tools they provide to students”
The Chair and Members of the Education Committee and the Chair of the Transportation Committee , Communications and Projects of the House of Representatives visited Frederick University in Nicosia yesterday, Thursday, March 2, where they toured modern research laboratories and hybrid classrooms and talked with members of the university community.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Mr. Pavlos Mylonas, the Vice-Chairman, Mr. Chrysantho Savvidis, the members, Mr. Prodromos Alabritis and Mr. Christos Christofias, and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Transport, Communications and Works, Mr. Marino Musioutas, were welcomed to Frederick University by President of the Council, Mr. Natassa Frederikou, the Rector of the University, Professor Giorgos Dimosthenous, the Vice-President of the Council Dr. Christoforos Charalambous, the Vice-Rector for Research, Development and International Relations of the University, Professor Michalis Komodromos and the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Quality Assurance, Professor Kostas Kyriakou. This was followed by a tour of one of the University's three state-of-the-art Pharmacy Research Laboratories. The MPs had the opportunity to attend laboratory exercises in an educational Laboratory of the Department of Pharmacy, the first and only Department of Pharmacy in a Cypriot university, which was recently certified by the Agency for Quality Assurance and Certification of Higher Education (DIPAE). They also attended an Engineering course in a hybrid classroom and talked to students about issues that concern the student community.
After the tour of the University premises, the members of the Parliamentary Committee, the President and the Vice-President of the University Council and the Rector's Authorities discussed issues concerning the University and university education in Cyprus. There was an exchange of views regarding the establishment of an Agency for the Promotion of Cyprus university education abroad, the need to support the academic community for the further development of research and innovation was underlined and ways of supporting students studying in non-public Universities were discussed. In addition, specific ways in which the Education Committee of the Parliament can support and assist in solving problems that concern the Universities of Cyprus, public and private, were discussed.
As the President of the Parliamentary Education Committee, Mr. Mylonas, said: “I congratulate Frederick University. Both myself and my colleagues are impressed by the infrastructure of the University and the great tools they provide to their students. The Education Committee and the State must engage more and even more strongly in university education and support with particular sensitivity and care the students whether they study in public or private universities.”
The President of Frederick University, Ms. Natassa Frederikou, said: “We are particularly happy for this meeting to exchange views on the various issues that concern both the student community and the local university institutions and to look for the required solutions together.”
The Rector of the University, Professor Demosthenus said: “I would like to thank the members and the President of the Education Committee for today's opportunity to see up close everything that takes place at our University and concerns either the educational process or our research activity, and to listen to the concerns of our students regarding the issues that concern them. We had a constructive discussion during which we raised a number of issues regarding the development of university education in Cyprus and support for all universities, public and private, a necessary condition and sufficient condition for Cyprus to truly become a Center of Excellence for regional and international university education .”
In the context of a brief presentation of Frederick University through its study programs and achievements, the Vice President of the University, Dr. Christoforos Charalambous referred to the European success of Frederick University as the first non-public University in Cyprus to achieves its inclusion as a full member in a European University consortium, namely the European University EU-CONEXUS, and developed the University's strategic objectives: the further development of its activities and infrastructure, its internationalization, further development in the field of research and I extended her of the Limassol campus focusing on the Health and Life Sciences sectors, with the establishment, in the following years, of the first Medical School in Limassol.
Finally, the Rector and the rest of the audience expressed their sorrow for the train accident in Greece and expressed their deepest condolences to the families of the victims.
