Students studying at public universities in Cyprus face acute problems in finding housing close to their faculty, the House education committee warned in a meeting on Wednesday.

“There are excellent students who secured a place at the Cyprus University of Technology (Tepak) in Limassol but ultimately choose to study at private universities in other cities, due to the very high rents,” Disy MP and committee member George Karoullas said.

Karoullas emphasised dormitories were needed both at Tepak and at the University of Cyprus (UCY), adding that the government must “seriously consider” an increase in the housing allowance provided by public universities.

Due to “outrageous housing prices” ranging between €800 to €1000 a month, some of the students choose to live with their parents and commute from Paphos to their faculty in Limassol daily, education committee chairman and Diko MP Chrysanthos Savvidis said, echoing the concerns voiced by his colleague.

“Approximately four out of ten have decided to travel daily from Paphos to Limassol, since they have not found housing,” he said.

Savvidis added that the aim to increase the number of students at public universities was incompatible with the current situation and emphasised the need to expand the number of student accommodation buildings.

Akel MP Christos Christofias called on the government to draft a strategy to better support students and their families, enabling them to study in Cyprus. He said that efforts to create more student housing had been announced in recent years but not realised, emphasising the need to prevent CUT from losing students due to the persisting issues.

“We are observing that the government remains inactive,” he said.

The MPs then moved on to discuss other important issues affecting various levels of education, including the much-discussed new teacher evaluation scheme, staffing issues, as well as the upgrading of the equipment of schools.

Chairman Savvidis stressed that education was a living organism, that required constant improvement.

He emphasised the need for establishing the new teacher evaluation scheme, expressing hope that the ministry and teachers would come to an agreement on the matter soon.

In view of the necessary upgrades for schools, he said that he expects to see a “significant budget allocation in the 2026 budget”, which would allow for the further installation of air conditioning until the summer of next year

“As for public schools, we hope that the last pending issues regarding the staffing of school units, (…), will be resolved as soon as possible,” he said.

Akel MP Christos Christofias warned that understaffing remained a particularly pressing issue in secondary schools.

“The school year begins and the position of directors is filled-in by deputy directors or even ordinary teachers within the school units,” he said.

He also pointed problems in context with the appointment of temporary teachers, adding the matter needed to be discussed in the committee as soon as possible.

“With the start of the school year, there are key pending issues, for which we expect answers from the [eduction] ministry and the Christodoulides government,” he concluded.