Education in Cyprus is compulsory at the pre-primary, primary and lower secondary level, or until the pupil reaches the age of 15.
Kindergarten (or nipiagogeia in Greek) is compulsory for children from four-years-and-eight-months to five-years-and-eight-months, but they can enrol earlier at the age of three. Children may attend either public, community or private kindergartens. For the youngest, there are also nursery classes operating along with kindergartens.
The school year in public kindergartens begins on September 1st and ends on August 31st. Only nurseries are closed in August. Christmas and Easter holidays last for two weeks. In addition, there are a further 12 days when there is no school, because of either public, national or religious holidays. Children attend public kindergartens from Monday to Friday from 7.45 to 13.05, while community kindergartens may extend their teaching time. Private kindergartens can manage their schedules independently.
Both public and private primary schools (or dimotika scholeia) are available and compulsory for children between the ages of six and 12. The curriculum is focused on modern Greek and mathematics, as well as health and environmental education, artistic expression and modern technology.
The school year in primary education begins on the first Thursday of September and ends on the Wednesday before the penultimate Friday in June. During the academic year children have two weeks of Christmas and two weeks of Easter holidays. Also, there are 12 days of vacation for public, national or religious holidays. All public primary schools operate from Monday to Friday and the daily schedule is from 7.45 until 13.05. Each primary school day is split into seven 40-minute lessons with three breaks totalling 40 minutes.