Vocational schools and private training centers stage protest calling for a stop in the non issuance of visas to students from abroad

Representatives of some private courses and training centers in north Cyprus on Tuesday staged a protest in front of the Prime Minister's office calling on the government to remove all obstacles that prevents the issuance of visa to students registering from abroad.

On Tuesday November 12, representatives of around 40 private courses and training centers that make up the Private Course Education Centers platform gathered in front of the Prime Ministry in protest against the non issuance of student visas to those registering from abroad to private courses and training centers in the country demanding that it should be stopped..

In a joint statement read by Emin Önüş, they requested the removal of the obstacles that are alleged to have been imposed on those registering for private courses and trainings from abroad.

The statement said that the issuance of student visas for private courses and training to foreign nationals had been stopped, and that this had been done by closing the online system within the Ministry of Interior.

The statement, which claimed that the closure of the system had caused “thousands of students to suffer” and that the financial planning of educational institutions had been disrupted, said: “The fact that our right to provide education, especially to foreign students, was taken away from us has left our institutions in a difficult situation and dealt a major blow to the country’s economy.”

It was stated that private courses and training centers "fulfill important duties such as acquiring a profession and creating employment."

The statement, which called for a clear explanation of the reason for the closure of the system, said: “We want private course education centers to be given the authority to provide residence permits to foreign students again.”

“This situation has caused a major decrease in our student numbers and has led to our centers coming to the brink of bankruptcy,” the statement said.

In the statement, it was stated that countries such as Germany, England and Malta have been "successful" in workforce planning by expanding vocational training centers and including foreigners in the system, and that "in these countries, a balance has been achieved between general education and vocational training, and important steps have been taken in the integration of the immigrant population into the workforce. In our country, the emphasis is on general education and vocational training is not supported sufficiently. This situation leads to a qualified workforce deficit and imbalances in sectoral development."

The statement stated that trainees should be given work permits in the field they are trained in, and the process should be facilitated,

It was requested that vocational training be encouraged, a transparent communication channel be established between the relevant institutions and the platform to solve the problems, the trainee registration system be updated, and vocational training course centers be supported to close the qualified workforce gap in areas such as beauty, food and beverage, tourism, and automotive.