Students sitting Pancyprian exams will be doing so in air-conditioned classrooms, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday.

Speaking before a cabinet meeting, Christodoulides also referred to changes in the education system, including special education being extended to 22 years.

Referring to air conditioning in schools, Christodoulides said all 5,119 exam candidates would be sitting the exams “in conditions suited to a modern European state”.

The Pancyprian exams are used by final year students to apply to universities in Cyprus and Greece.

“This was the result of our political will, planning and swift implementation,” Christodoulides said.

Earlier on Wednesday it was announced that air-conditioning systems had been installed in Larnaca lyceums, ready for start of the exams on Friday.

The Larnaca school board said installing the units in the lyceums of Aradippou, Ayios Georgios, Lefkara, Vergina, Livadia, Archbishop Makarios III and Larnaca Pancyprian was “a race against time, which demanded excellent coordination of all involved parties and a workplan based on strict timeframes.”

On special education, Christodoulides cited an experience he had during a visit to Famagusta district.

When the meeting in Paralimni ended, a 21-year-old special education student approached him and said he would like to continue going to school or somewhere similar.

“Today I would like to announce that all children in special education who were eligible to stay till the age of 21 can now remain till the age of 22, until we secure positions for them in dignified structures,” Christodoulides said.

To this end, discussions are underway with the private sector, he added.