Phase 2 of the European Union’s Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) activities continues in Cyprus, with further working groups including Ministry representatives and stakeholders taking place through the autumn.
The second round of working groups included three all-day virtual meetings on 28–30 September, which continued the discussions from the online meetings in June 2020. Participants included education professionals, parents’ groups and key policy‑makers from the Ministry, among others. Each working group was dedicated to a specific thematic area of inclusive education. Stakeholders provided feedback on key issues to inform the development of draft regulations for the new legislation on inclusive education in Cyprus.
After the meetings, the team used the analysis of the working group discussions, together with the resource analysis report’s main outcomes, to formulate draft recommendations. These were presented and discussed in the third round of virtual meetings on 23 and 27 November 2020. In the first meeting, the Agency team informed Mr Kypros Kyprianou, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, about the progress of the Action and the next steps. Following this, the team presented the draft recommendations and discussed them in detail with the Ministry representatives.
The final meeting in November also involved the other stakeholder groups and the members of the Steering Committee. The Agency team presented the draft recommendations to the participants, along with the suggested operational strategies. The Ministry’s Steering Committee and stakeholders were invited to provide specific comments on the proposals.
Once finalised, the recommendations will be used to develop the draft regulations. The draft regulations will define in more detail the operational set-up of the topics included in the new draft bill on inclusive education.