The opportunity for children of refugees from Ukraine to come in a first contact with the Greek language and the Cypriot culture, was given by the pilot program implemented by the Language Center of the Cyprus University of Technology (TEPAK), with the financial support of the Center for Social Services Andreas Sophocles "(KEPAKY). The program lasted three days and was attended by children aged 6-17 years.
Speaking at an event held on Friday, April 29, at TEPAK, on the occasion of the completion of the program, the Head of the Study and Student Welfare Service (YSFE) of the University, Dr. Vassilis Protopapas, thanked the parents "who trusted us with their children and enrolled them in this program", expressing the support and solidarity of the University to the Ukrainian refugees who found refuge in Cyprus, due to the ongoing war in their country. "We here in Cyprus understand what exile, uprooting and invasion mean. I hope that the war will end soon and that you will return home and to your homes safely. "I want you to know that we, as TEPAK, will do what we can, in collaboration with the Center of Mr. Andreas Sophocleous, so that we can make your life here in Limassol as creative, productive and useful as possible", he noted.
"These three days were just the beginning. "Our goal is for the program to continue during the summer months," he said, adding that these children will be given the opportunity to participate in the summer school that will operate at TEPAK for the children of the University staff. "This way they will have the opportunity to meet their peers from Cyprus and to develop relationships and friendships with them through the activities of the school", concluded the Head of YSFE.
Speaking on behalf of KEPAKY, Mr. Charalambos Hadjisavvas expressed his joy and satisfaction for the successful implementation of the pilot program for learning the Greek language. "Our intention is to continue this program in the summer as well, with the aim of helping these children to enroll, as smoothly as possible, in public schools from next September, in case the war in their country continues," he noted. "Of course our wish is for the war to end and for the children to be able to return to their homes and schools," he added.
Mr. Hadjisavvas thanked TEPAK and especially the Rector of the University, Professor Panagiotis Zafeiris for his strong support for the implementation of this program. "A big thank you to the educational staff of TEPAK and the parents of the children who trusted the program", he concluded.
Speaking on behalf of the children's parents, Ms. Julia Korzik thanked TEPAK and the Center "Andreas Sophocles" for the implementation of the program as well as the teachers of the Language Center of the University for the warm hospitality and the touching, as he said, way they hugged and supported their children throughout the program . "I would like to say a big thank you to Mr. Sophocles and the teachers of TEPAK for the very nice program they organized for our children. The children were very happy and excited during these three days of the program. The first day we came to pick them up they did not want to leave and were looking forward to returning the next day. They did not want the program to end", he said.
"It's very important," she added, "to continue this program in the summer so that their children can attend public schools smoothly in September, while he appeared pessimistic about when the war in her country will end." "Unfortunately, the situation as it unfolds leaves us little room to be optimistic that the war will end soon," he said, adding that even if the war ended, it would take a long time to repair the damage done to many homes and buildings. He mentioned, finally, that children learn a foreign language much more easily, such as Greek, compared to adults, because they treat the whole process as a game.
The program is part of a series of recent decisions made by the University, including the granting of scholarships for undergraduate and doctoral studies, to support students and prospective students from Ukraine, after the Russian military invasion of the country.
Source: CUT