Cyprus Fact-File Part 6:
Individual Business Employment Issues

6.3 Cyprus Apprenticeship and Work Experience Schemes

Apprenticeship schemes

Apprenticeships have been available in Cyprus in one form or another since 1963, and the Cyprus Productivity Centre (KEPA), a division of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, is responsible for overseeing such schemes.

Traditionally, apprenticeships have been available to a fairly limited age range (between 14 and 18), and for a two year period, with practical on-the-job training provided three days a week, and vocational education taking place on the remaining two. The employer is obliged to pay the apprentice, but receives a subsidy from the government for the two study days. Generally, apprenticeship positions have been taken up by early school leavers.

Following a decline in interest in apprenticeship positions in recent years, the government announced in 2007 that they planned to gradually replace the existing system with the New Modern Apprenticeship (NMA) scheme, offering training in a wider number of areas (in order to increase the attractiveness of such positions to female apprentices; the traditional scheme having tended to attract almost exclusively male participants), for a broader age range (between 14 and 25), and providing Cypriot employers with arguably more attractive incentives to take on apprentices.

The NMA system will provide preparatory level training (1 year) for secondary school drop-outs, designed to bring their general educational standards up to those of a school leaver, core training (3 years) aiming to bring them up to the standard of skilled practitioner in their chosen field, and post-secondary training (1 year).

At the time of writing, the NMA scheme is in the process of being implemented. In the run-up to full implementation, improvements are being made to the existing regime, including the provision of subsidies relating to the wages of the member/s of staff doing the training, and additionally subsidising increased payments for trainers undertaking such activity outside of their standard working hours.

To this end, the Cyprus Productivity Centre (KEPA) announced in late July 2010 that it is now accepting applications for a new tranche of funding (jointly provided by the European Social Fund and the Cypriot government), providing variable levels of subsidy for the training of apprentices.

According to KEPA, applications from employers received by September 30 2010 would be evaluated the following month, applications received by November 30, 2010 are to be assessed in January 2011, and employers that request participation in the scheme by March 31, 2011 will receive a response by April 2011.

Short duration (16 week, followed by a period of on-the-job training) vocational training courses are also available to both those who have completed their secondary education and those who have dropped out, and vocational evening classes are also sometimes available.

(In terms of education-based training it is also worth noting that those planning to work in a technical profession can opt to attend technical school between the ages of 15 and 18, and to receive their upper secondary education there.)

Work Experience Schemes

There is no formal work experience programme overseen by the government, but work experience opportunities are often available on a case-by-case basis.

The European Union provides fuller details of the academic and other organisations providing work experience opportunities as part of their courses here: http://europa.eu/youth/working/traineeships/index_cy_en.html

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