Education
Full time education is compulsory for all children from the age of 5 years. The 12-year span of education consists of six years elementary education and six years of secondary education. In addition to state schools, there are private fee-paying schools in all towns, whose basic teaching language is English. Cyprus offers a distinguished University as well as a number of private institutions of higher education.
Cyprus ranks among the first countries in the world in terms of University degree holders in relation to the population, with 70% of secondary school graduates in 2000, proceeding to Tertiary education. More than half of secondary education graduates study abroad, mainly in Greece (53%), the UK (23%), and the USA (14%).
