The educational system in Cyprus is highly centralized and the design and development of the Curriculum for kindergarten, primary and secondary education is a responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture, along with anything that deals with educational matters. The Ministry of Education and Culture, is responsible for the education of 3-year old children and over.Regarding administration, there are different officials appointed in Primary and Secondary Education. Until very recently, there were different curricula, policy makers, even different educational philosophies in the various levels of education. The official curriculum document for each subject taught was usually planned and developed by the inspector/s, in cooperation with selected teachers and it was supported by the respective textbooks (student book and teacher book), usually one for each class level. The textbooks were written either by teachers seconded at a certain department of the Ministry of Education and Culture, responsible for the development of the teaching material, or are written and published in Greece by a respective department of the Greek Ministry of Education and Culture. Textbooks from both Cypriot and Greek education systems pose the major teaching material and are basically the means for the implementation of the Curriculum or else the visual side of the unseen curriculum in the teaching environment.
However, the last two years Cypriot education has undergone a wide educational reform. New curricula have been designed in all school subjects that will be piloted in schools in 2011-2013.  Designing unified curricula in each subject, starting from the nursery school to the secondary school and creating a humanitarian and democratic school for all children, nurturing creative and reflective individuals with highly developed critical thinking, cooperative and interpersonal skills, were the major foci of the educational reform. In addition, for the first time, the new curricula were created by academics appointed by the Ministry of Education and Culture, in-service teachers from all educational levels who volunteered to participate in the design groups and the inspectors of each subject.  

The Cypriot Ministry of Education and Culture is responsible for the education of 3-year old children and over (-18) but compulsory schooling in Cyprus is from the age of 5 to 15 years old. However, the majority of Cypriot students finish Lyceum and proceed to College or University level studies.
The education offered in Cypriot public Schools is structured as follows:
1.    Primary Education:
Pre-primary schools: Ages 3-6 and Primary schools: (grades -6, ages 6-12)
The fundamental principle of defining the aims of Pre-Primary and Primary Education in Cyprus has always been the harmonious development of the personality of children. This is believed to be achieved under conditions which help children acquire knowledge, develop attitudes and foster skills, in situations in which they are encouraged to face the unceasing changing world in a responsible way (Annual Report 2010, Ministry of Education and Culture).
2.    Secondary Education:
Secondary Schools: Gymnasiums (grades 1-3, ages 12-15) and Unified Lyceums or Technical/Vocational Schools (grades 4-6, ages 15-18).The Gymnasium is a complete three- year cycle of general education focused on humanistic education and supplements the general education offered in Primary Education. The Unified Lyceum, introduced in 2001, offers obligatory common core subjects for all pupils, and optional subjects. Common core subjects offer general education, multi-faceted development and acquisition of general skills, which are required by the contemporary realities. All subjects in the first grade of Lyceum are common core subjects. Later on, pupils attend common core lessons and at the same time choose optional subjects for systematic and in depth study of subjects which interest them (Annual Report 2010, Ministry of Education and Culture).
For more information in regards to the Cypriot Education System please visit the web page of the Cypriot Ministry of Education http://www.moec.gov.cy/etisia-ekthesi/index.html for the annual reports.

Music is a compulsory subject in the Cypriot school curriculum and is taught in schools twice a week from the first year of primary school until the second year of secondary school and once a week in the third and fourth year of secondary school. In years 5-6 in secondary education, Music is not a compulsory subject but can be selected either as an elective or as a concentration subject.
Following the policy of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus, the subject of music in primary schools is supposed to be taught by the generalist teachers, with an exception of 90 conservatories’ graduates, who were appointed in primary education 15-20 years ago to cover school needs.
In secondary schools Music is taught by university music graduates.

A new Music National Curriculum has been designed by a committee consisting of two academics appointed by the Cypriot Ministry of Education and Culture, 12 in-service primary and secondary teachers, 2 music specialists for pre-primary school working in the public university and 3 music inspectors.
The new Music National Curriculum is an open, flexible and negotiable document and gives the opportunity to the teacher to take his/her own decisions in what to teach, when and how, emphasising on the development of musical skills, the cultivation of positive attitudes and behaviours and the acquisition of musical knowledge. The new curriculum also promotes informal learning practices, cooperative learning and learning by doing and it supports, among others, collaborative school-community projects and cultural actions.

How does the new Music National Curriculum differ from previous curricula?

1. It is a Unified Curriculum from kindergarten to the First year of Lyceum (12 grades), whereas before there was a separate curriculum for kindergarten, another for primary school, another for secondary school and a separate one for the first year of lyceum.
2. The 12 grades of schooling are grouped into 4 levels, which foster a “smoother” transition between pre-primary, primary and secondary education and allow the teacher to be flexible.
3. It is an open curriculum, with flexible structures, ensuring teachers’ professional autonomy and allowing space for the teachers and students to negotiate the curriculum and organize the lessons based on teachers’ interests and the interests and needs of students. The new curriculum is definitely not put in practice through chapters of specific music textbooks as it was the case before, but it promotes multiple educational materials and the selection-synthesis through a variety of resources.
4. The new curriculum makes suggestions in regards to concepts to be taught and skills to be developed, grouped in the four levels mentioned earlier and not referring to each grade, like previous curricula did.                                                                                                                                  5. It gives greater emphasis on skills development, starting methodically from kindergarten. The new curriculum underlines the importance of teaching children to sing, play a musical instrument, develop active listening skills and develop improvisation and composition skills.
6. For the first time in a Cypriot music curriculum, teachers are given in a separate part, suggestions in regards to attitudes and behaviors related to the activities of listening, performance and composition that students should cultivate through Music.
7. The new National Curriculum invites teachers to organize their lessons, not only around musical concepts, as hitherto the largest portion of teachers of Primary and Secondary education did, but also through the organization of their units around open topics that connect knowledge and skills acquired by our students about the rudiments of music with music as a form of communication, with both the natural and human environment as well as with their inner world. Intentionally, the thematic units suggested in the curriculum document are general enough for the teacher to be able to adapt and enrich each time, depending on the level, needs and interests of students / teachers / school.
8. In the curriculum document suggested teaching methodologies are presented, based on current trends in music teaching.
9. The curriculum highlights the active participation of students in a variety of musical environments and experiences and deliberately delays, compared with the previous curriculum, the introduction of music notation at early ages, underlining the approach "sound before symbol", at all levels.
10. It promotes cooperation with the community through a variety of activities inside and outside school, artists in school etc.
11. It promotes the introduction of informal learning practices in the music lesson. It also stresses the importance of taking into consideration when organizing the lessons students’ music preferences (see www.musicalfutures.org).
12. It gives concrete examples of current assessment tools that can be used in the music lesson, ensuring authentic assessment.
13. It promotes the use of music technology by both the teacher and the students, offering teachers specific suggestion for each level.
The new Music National Curriculum will be piloted in primary and secondary schools in 2011-2013. It will soon be translated in English and the link will be added in Cyprus EAS webpage.
You can find the New Music National Curriculum in the official website of the Cypriot Music Education.