Participation in European Projects
Recovery and Resilience Facility
Development of a National Graduate Tracking Mechanism and Design and Implementation of an Employers’ Skills Survey
The Directorate of Higher Education in the context of the project "Addressing skills mismatch between Education and the labour market" which is part of the proposal of the Republic of Cyprus in the Recovery and Resilience Facility, has received funding for the project "Development of a National Graduate Tracking Mechanism and Design and Implementation of an Employers' Skills Survey" (Cοmponent 5.1 Educational system modernisation, upskilling and retraining). The project aims to develop and implement a National Graduate Tracking Mechanism for the first time in Cyprus and at the same time to develop and implement a National Employers' Skill Survey in relation to the skills and qualifications needs of the labour market. At the same time, Cyprus' participation in Eurograduate, a European Graduate Tracking Survey, is funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan. In the context of this project, a Dynamic Platform will also be developed for data collection purposes (from graduates and employers) but also for presentation of results to various stakeholders in the form of inforgraphics.This project is designed to response to the recommendations made in the context of various European policy reports for Cyprus on the existence of skills and qualifications mismatches between the education system and the labor market. The three surveys will provide data on a longitudinal basis to various stakeholders (Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, Deputy Ministry of Research and Innovation, Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance, Higher Education Institutions, Human Resource Development Authority, employers, Higher and Secondary Education students, parents etc.) for decision-making and policy design aimed at reducing the mismatch between supply and demand for skills/academic qualifications between the education system and the labour market, to better anticipate current and future skill needs by the labour market, with the ultimate aim of improving the connection of Cyprus Education System with the labour market.
The implementation of the project has been undertaken by PWC Cyprus following an open call in eProcurement.
National Graduate Tracking Mechanism
The National Graduate Tracking Mechanism aims to collect high quality data from graduates at levels 5, 6 and 7 in the National Qualifications Framework regarding their professional and social path after the completion of their education and training. A total of five data collection cycles (2022-2026) will take place in the context of the project "Addressing skills mismatch between Education and the labour market". In each cycle, data will be collected from two groups of graduates: a) graduates one year after graduating from Higher Education (T+1) and b) graduates five years after graduating from Higher Education (T+5). Graduates will be invited to complete an online questionnaire which covers the following themes: experiences from their studies in Higher Education, transition to the labour market, experiences from the labour market, matching of employment with studies in Higher Education, mobility, and demographics.
The first wave of data collection involves graduates of the academic years 2020/2021 (T+1) and 2016/2017 (T+5) and is currently in progress (February 2023).
National Employers' Skills Survey
The National Employers’ Skills Survey will collect data from employers from all sectors of the Cypriot economy on the needs of the labour market regarding skills and qualifications. A total of three data collection cycles (2022, 2023 and 2025) will take place in the context of the project "Addressing skills mismatch between Education and the labour market". Employers will be asked to fill in an online questionnaire. The questionnaire covers the following thematic axes: existing and future needs in skills and qualifications, skills shortages observed by employers in their workforce, the training they offer to their workforce, the offer of apprenticeships, business characteristics, etc.
The first data collection cycle is expected to take place in Autumn 2023.
Eurograduate
The European Graduate Tracking Survey aims to pave the way for a sustainable European-wide graduate tracking survey. A total of 17 European countries participate in the first cycle of this survey, with the goal of 80% of European countries participating by 2030. The aim of the survey is to collect comparable data between European countries in relation to their experiences during their time as students of Higher Education and the impact of these experiences on their professional life and their life as European citizens. Data from the Eurograduate survey will help compare different higher education systems in Europe and identify ways in which they can be improved to prepare young people for the labour market and their role in society.
National research teams in each of the participating countries conduct the Eurograduate survey. These teams are coordinated by the consortium of research centres and organisations with the German Research Centre for Higher Education and Science Research (DZHW) being the co-ordinator.
More information on the Eurograduate survey can be found at the following link: https://www.eurograduate.eu/
Graduate Tracking: A Pilot Survey of Cyprus Higher Education Graduates
The Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth in collaboration with the University of Cyprus and the Technological University of Cyprus, initiated the pilot survey, “A Pilot Survey of Cyprus Higher Education Graduates”, in comply with the recommendations of the European Council towards the implementation of a European Graduate Tracking Mechanism. The pilot survey initiated in September 2020 and was coordinated by the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry. It mainly focused towards the collection of data on graduates and their labor market outcomes in order to provide crucial insights on the extent to which graduates’ skills and knowledge match the needs of the labor market, on graduates’ under-employment and on graduates’ mobility across the EU.| Subject | File | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate Tracking: A Pilot Survey of Cyprus Higher Education Graduates | ||
| Information |  |
23/02/2022 |
| Results Report (in Greek) |  |
23/02/2022 |
Staff Mobility Project
The Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth following the partnership agreement with the Flemish Community signed on the 20th of September 2019 participates as a partner at the “Staff Mobility” project, situated within the framework of the Bologna Peer Support Group on Quality Assurance (QA).The Staff Mobility project facilitates peer support for professional development by offering a work placement in another country to staff members working in the field of QA in Higher Education within national authorities, QA agencies and/or stakeholder organisations.
The duration of the mobility that is funded under the Staff Mobility Project is a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 14 days, corresponding to the details provided in the application form. As part of the acceptance of mobility funding and as a condition of reimbursement, the mobile staff member agrees to present a detailed report on the mobility, to be submitted to the Matchmaking Committee.
Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on March 2020, numerous governments and organizations have placed travel bans on non-essential trips for outgoing and incoming staff. This had an impact on the Staff Mobility Project which led to the postponement of the program till further notice from the coordinators.
MICROBOL – Micro-credentials linked to the Bologna Key Commitments
MICROBOL is a biennial project (2020-2022) co-financed by the Erasmus + KA3 Support to Policy Reform program, which aims to support the implementation of reforms in the European Higher Education Area.The project is linked to the objectives of the new Erasmus + program and the European Higher Education Area to increase access to Higher Education as well as continuous learning for all, regardless of age or experience.
Eligible to participate in this project are both Higher Education students and anyone who wants to improve his/her knowledge, skills and abilities.
To bridge the gap between formal education leading to traditional qualifications, e.g degrees, and non-formal education, but also the rapidly changing needed for acquiring and developing knowledge for the labour market, there is a need to create new flexible ways of learning and teaching, such as short learning programs and micro-credentials. These can be offered through formal or non-formal education with online or face-to-face lessons.
The Department of Higher Education participates as a full member and partner in the project. More information can be found on the project’s website MICROPOL: https://microcredentials.eu/
