Adult education and migration in Cyprus: A critical analysis

Abstract

Migration as a political process and migrants as political subjects or as active participants in the educational process are largely absent from the adult education system in the Cypriot context. This article attempts to inquire on this absence by offering a critical analysis of key policy texts and proposals as well as prominent programmes and initiatives that have shaped the recent transformations of adult education in Cyprus. On the one hand, it is important to reflect on the gaps, mishaps and silences of Cypriot educational policies in relation to the challenges posed by migration in the era of globalised mobility. On the other, it is also critical to highlight the connections between adult education policies and the formulation of the state’s policy towards adults’ migration and its concrete initiatives towards fostering a politics of integration. The article offers a critique of the presence situation in Cyprus, arguing that it confines adult migrants to a position where they cannot play a significant role in co-shaping how adult learning is organised, structured and implemented in Cyprus.