Coronavirus: some repatriated Cypriot students want to return to Greece for studies

A growing number of Cypriot students who are currently enrolled in universities in Greece and have been repatriated over the last month have expressed their wish to return to Greece to continue their studies and not miss out on crucial lessons that cannot be carried out online.

In particular, students who are enrolled in courses that require their physical presence, such as medicine courses or those involving the use of laboratories, have said a prolonged absence would heavily damage their studies.

The education ministry announced on Tuesday that the General Secretariat for Civil Protection of Greece (GSSP) will be responsible in bringing back to the country students who were previously repatriated to their own countries.

“Based on the recommendations given by GSSP, at the moment all passengers landing at airports in Greece will be tested for Covid-19 and transferred to designated hotels while awaiting the results of the tests,” the announcement said.

“Should the passengers test positive, they will be quarantined at state facilities for 14 days, whereas if they test negative, they will have to self-isolate at home for the same amount of time.”

The cost of the accommodation at hotels will be covered by the Greek government, the announcement concluded.

On Thursday, student union Proodeftiki released a statement complaining that a lot of Cypriot students enrolled at Greek universities will miss crucial classes as the current plan will see students back in Greece after universities reopened.

“University clinical course and course involving the use of laboratories in Greece will resume on May 25, whereas vocational training courses will resume on May 18,” Proodeftiki said.

“The current plan issued by our government will bring back students to Greece way after those dates, so many of us will unfortunately miss a lot of crucial classes.”

The union urged the government to organise more charter flights so more students will have the possibility of being flown back earlier.

“Laboratory or clinical course have mandatory presence for students, this is way the current plan is not a viable option for us, we need a new one so that our studies will not be affected,” the announcement concluded.

Cypriot students who wish to be flown back to Greece need to submit their request on the portal set up by the Greek government at https://bit.ly/2zYHlQN.

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