Cyprus needs €1 billion to meet its school infrastructure demands — but has just €35 million to spend this year.
That gap, laid out before the Parliamentary Education Committee this week, underlines the scale of the challenge facing the Ministry of Education’s Technical Services as it tries to juggle upgrades, new buildings and extensions across the island.
Andreas Marangos, director of Technical Services, told the committee that planning and timelines are subject to the Finance Ministry, which sets specific ceilings on each ministry’s budget.
The 2026 development budget stands at €35 million, with the medium-term plan providing €40 million for each of 2027 and 2028.
Marangos submitted a document detailing projects currently under way at schools — with a total expenditure of almost €84 million — alongside projects planned to begin in the near future, with an estimated cost of €7.5 million, and projects included in the Ministry’s long-term planning.
26 years and 78 schools still waiting
The seismic upgrading of 730 school buildings began in 2000 and is still not complete. Some 78 schools remain outstanding — buildings that were originally assessed as low risk and left last.
After 26 years, some of those schools now require demolition rather than upgrading, according to a techno-economic study.
Marangos told the committee that construction costs have been rising exponentially, particularly over the last decade, placing further constraints on an already stretched budget.