Special Schools and Special Units in Cyprus: A Parent's Guide

Many parents first hear the words special unit or special school (in Greek, eidiki monada and eidiko sxoleio) at a school meeting or in a report from the District Committee for Special Education. This guide explains what each setting is, how many there are, who decides where a child goes, and what you can do if you disagree.

In 2023-24 the Ministry of Education counted 7,770 children with special needs in public pre-primary and primary schools, 859 children in 145 special units at those levels, and 569 pupils in the nine public special schools (Ministry of Education Annual Report 2024). So most children with special educational needs in Cyprus learn in mainstream classes.

Our editors researched this guide from the law, Ministry of Education documents and other official sources, checked in November 2026. It describes public services as general guidance and does not list or rank them. For the assessment itself, see our SEN assessment guide.

When the District Committee decides that a child needs special education, it can provide it in three main settings, with teaching at home or in hospital for children who cannot attend school (Ministry of Education: special education settings).

The law puts the mainstream class first. A child who needs special education attends a class of an ordinary school, except in exceptional cases, and a place in a special unit or a special school is allowed only to the extent and for as long as the District Committee decides (Special Education Law 113(I)/1999). A mainstream class that includes children with special needs may also be made smaller.

A setting is not fixed: the Committee reassesses each child at least every two years, and you can ask for a transfer (see section 4).

The Ministry of Education's list of 7 October 2026 shows nine public special schools, in all five government-controlled districts (Ministry list of special schools, 7 October 2026).

The Ministry describes special schools as schools for children with severe difficulties. Pupils are grouped by age, characteristics and assessed needs, and the schools keep in contact with neighbouring mainstream schools for joint activities (Ministry of Education Annual Report 2024).

In 2023-24, 569 children attended the nine special schools, taught by 274 teachers. These are the latest official figures we found: there was no official count for 2025-26 or 2026-27.

From age 3 to 22

Special education starts at age 3. The law covers children from the age of three, and the state provides pre-primary special education from then until the child starts school. A child under 3 is assessed only with the parents' consent (Special Education Law 113(I)/1999).

The upper limit changed in 2025. Under Law 131(I)/2025, published on 22 July 2025, the District Committee reassesses pupils in a special school, or in a special unit of a lyceum or technical school, in their 18th year, and can extend their special education one year at a time up to the age of 22. Until then the limit was 21 (Law 131(I)/2025). The regulations were changed to match: no extension is possible if the young person has already turned 22 by 1 September of that school year (Regulatory Administrative Act 222/2025).

This rule names special schools and special units, not mainstream classes. If your child is in a mainstream class, ask the District Committee what applies to them.

A special unit is a small class run inside a mainstream public school. Children in a unit are enrolled in a mainstream class, and the unit keeps the same timetable as that class. A shorter day is allowed only in exceptional cases, with the approval of the Ministry's department director (Special Education Regulations 2001).

The head teacher must include unit pupils in all the school's social activities, and in mainstream lessons wherever possible. The District Committee decides how many pupils a unit takes.

In 2023-24 there were 145 special units in public pre-primary and primary schools, with 859 children (Ministry of Education Annual Report 2024). Ministry figures reported to the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education show another 365 pupils in special units at secondary level that year. We found no official count of units for 2025-26 or 2026-27, and no count of secondary units for any year.

Special units in secondary schools

Under a Ministry circular of 15 January 2026, the District Committee places in the Special Unit Programme the secondary pupils who cannot take exams and tests of the same level and requirements as other pupils. Each of these pupils belongs to a mainstream class section, with at most three programme pupils in a section, and progress is recorded against each pupil's individual programme (Ministry circular of 15 January 2026).

In lyceum units, pupils spend three days a week at school and two days on supported work placements in the community, with assistants and unit teachers. Units at technical schools run programmes in hotel and catering and in hairdressing. Pupils receive a certificate of attendance each term and a certificate when they complete the programme.

Placement is decided by the District Committee for Special Education (in Greek, Eparchiaki Epitropi Eidikis Agogis kai Ekpaidefsis). There are four (Larnaca and Famagusta share one), each chaired by a Chief Education Officer of the Ministry, with a special-education teacher, an educational psychologist, a clinical psychologist, a social worker, a speech-language pathologist and a representative of the child's level of education (Special Education Law 113(I)/1999).

Anyone, especially a parent, teacher, doctor or psychologist, can tell the Committee that a child may have special needs, and the Committee assesses the child wherever they attend, including at a private school. It then issues a reasoned decision and a report on the special education your child needs and, if it is outside a mainstream class, whether it is in a special unit or elsewhere. Our guide to the District Committee process explains these steps.

Under the current law, parents cannot simply refuse a placement: on the basis of the report, the parent enrols the child, and keeps them, at the school or setting it names. You do have rights at every stage (Ministry of Education: parents' rights):

• Take part in the assessment and your child's examination, alone or with an expert of your choice, and submit your own evidence
• Within 30 days of the report, send the Committee written comments on anything you disagree with
• Within the same 30 days, tell the Committee you will make other arrangements at your own cost, at a private school or elsewhere; it approves or rejects this with reasons
• Appeal in writing to the Central Committee for Special Education within 30 days of the final report; it can confirm, change or replace the decision, and the Ministry says it replies within three months
• Ask for an earlier reassessment, or for a transfer between a mainstream class, a special unit and a special school
• See your child's file and get a copy of it

Transfers are decided by the District Committee on a reasoned request from the head teacher or the parent (Special Education Regulations 2001). Since 2013 the regulations give parents access to the file with the right to a copy, under data-protection law (Regulatory Administrative Act 416/2013).

Staff and therapies

By law, public special schools have teaching staff and other specialists, such as psychologists, speech therapists, doctors and physiotherapists, plus support staff (Special Education Law 113(I)/1999). In public pre-primary, primary and special schools, the Ministry also employs occupational therapists, music therapists, teachers of deaf and of blind children, nurses and school assistants (Ministry of Education: special education staff).

Which specialists your child actually sees depends on the school and on the Committee's report, so ask.

An individual programme for every child

Every pupil in a special school or special unit follows an individual programme, drawn up by the school staff with you and the liaison officer (in Greek, syndetikos leitourgos), who follows your child for the District Committee and reports on progress at least every six months. It can cover academic skills, self-care and hygiene, mobility, language and communication, emotional support, and skills for social inclusion and independent living (Special Education Regulations 2001).

The law sets no fixed class size: in a special school, group sizes follow each child's assessed needs, decided by a team that includes the head and a special-education inspector.

In 2023-24, two programmes let special-school pupils join classes in home economics, hotel and catering, applied arts and hairdressing at neighbouring secondary schools (Ministry of Education Annual Report 2024).

The afternoon programme

Eight of the nine public special schools run an optional all-day programme in the afternoon; the school for blind children is not on the Ministry's list of 7 October 2026 (Ministry list of all-day special schools, 7 October 2026). In 2023-24, all-day programmes in primary and special schools ran from October to June, five days a week, until 15:05 or 16:00.

School assistants (escorts)

School assistants or escorts (in Greek, sxolikoi voithoi or synodoi) support children who cannot look after themselves and have serious safety and communication difficulties, under criteria approved by the Council of Ministers. They do not teach, one assistant may support more than one child, and there is no provision for an exclusive assistant (Ministry announcement on school assistants, 27 September 2023). Each District Committee sets the basic assistant needs for the next school year by the last working day of June, and the school boards hire the assistants.

If your child will stay for the afternoon programme, ask whether their assistant support continues after the morning. In October 2026 the Commissioner for Children's Rights reported continuing complaints that children in special units or mainstream classes did not get escort support in the afternoon programme (Commissioner for Children's Rights, memo of 14 October 2026).

Transport

If the District Committee decides that a child attends a special school outside their area, it arranges free transport to and from school. The same applies when a child must attend a mainstream public school outside their area (Special Education Law 113(I)/1999).

In pre-primary and primary schools, children with special needs can get a transport allowance if, after a District Committee decision, they attend a school outside their educational district and live more than 2.4 km away. You apply through the school; for 2026-27 the deadline was 9 October 2026 (Ministry circular of 8 September 2026).

For pupils in secondary special units, the Ministry offers either a transport allowance to parents who drive their child, on the same conditions and paid twice a year, or a Ministry bus or taxi. Claim the allowance by the last working day of October; ask the District Committee for a bus or taxi each year, from March of the previous school year (Ministry circular on transport for special units).

From June to July 2026 the Ministry of Education put a bill amending the Special Education Law to public consultation, and on 2 September 2026 the Minister said it would go to Parliament after legal checks and Cabinet approval (Minister's statement of 2 September 2026). Press reports in late October 2026 said it was before the House Education Committee.

The draft published for consultation in June 2026 had two main proposals for families:

• Special units would become enhanced support programmes (in Greek, programmata enischymenis stirixis): intensive support for children who attend a general school
• A child's first placement in a special school, on entering a public school, would need the parent's written consent

The version before Parliament may differ from the June draft. On 5 November 2026 the bill had not been passed, so the current law, as described in this guide, still applies. Check the latest position before you rely on any proposed change.

Private special schools are allowed. They need an operating licence for a special school from the Council of Ministers, judged on their staff, equipment, buildings and location, and the Ministry's special-education inspectors inspect them (Special Education Law 113(I)/1999). A child may enrol before the District Committee's final decision, but the place then depends on that decision (Special Education Regulations 2001).

You can also choose a mainstream private school: in the Special Education Law, an ordinary school means a public or a private school. If the Committee's report names a public setting and you prefer a private one, tell the Committee within 30 days that you will make other arrangements at your own cost (see section 4).

Each private school's internal regulations must tell parents what it offers children with special needs, such as special education, escorts, facilities and equipment (Private Schools Law, article 14). The Ministry funds special education and school escorts only in public schools, so at a private school families often pay for support themselves, for example a private aide known as a shadow. Our guide explains the difference between a school escort and a shadow, and our guide to SEN support in private schools lists the questions to ask a school.

In October 2026 the Commissioner for Children's Rights told the Ministry that the law should change so that children with disabilities at private schools have the same rights as at public schools, without bearing the cost (Commissioner for Children's Rights, memo of 14 October 2026).

Private therapy alongside a public placement

Some families add private therapy, such as speech therapy, occupational therapy or psychology, to a public placement. We found no Ministry rule on outside therapists working with public schools, so ask the school and the liaison officer how your therapist's reports and recommendations can be shared. You can also bring your own expert to the District Committee's assessment.

Our guide to children's therapies through GeSY explains what GeSY covers, and our autism guide covers diagnosis, therapies and benefits for autistic children. To compare private help, start with special education providers and special educators in our SEN directory.

Find support near you

Pupils in special schools, and in special units of lyceums and technical schools, can stay in education up to the age of 22, one year at a time, if the District Committee decides so (see section 2).

In the final year of lyceum or technical school, schools hold information meetings with the Department for Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. With your consent, the unit fills in a referral form that you take to the Department, which supports young people into open or supported employment (Ministry circular of 15 January 2026). When special education ends, and again with your consent, the Ministry sends a record of the young person's abilities and needs to the disability services (Special Education Law 113(I)/1999).

Under Law 96(I)/2026, adults with a moderate or severe intellectual disability or another severe disability can attend day centres approved by the Social Welfare Services (Law 96(I)/2026). From 1 September 2026 the day-centre participation allowance is €300 a month, up from €150, and it is paid directly to the centre (Regulatory Administrative Act 286/2026).

The same law creates supported-employment services for people from 18, or from the end of compulsory schooling, up to 65. Ask the Department for Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities which services fit your young person, and start the conversation in the last years of school.

Before you accept or challenge a placement, visit the unit or school and ask:

• Which specialists will see my child, and how often?
• When will we review the individual programme together?
• How many children are in the unit or group, and how old are they?
• Which mainstream lessons and activities will my child join?
• What are the daily hours, and how do meals and breaks work?
• Will my child have assistant support, including in the afternoon programme and on trips?
• How will my child travel to and from school?
• How can our private therapists share their recommendations with the staff?
• What happens if the placement is not working?

Keep the answers with the Committee's report. If the setting does not match what the report says your child needs, raise it with the liaison officer, and remember the 30-day deadlines in section 4.

Rules and services change, so confirm details with the District Committee, the school or the service concerned. This guide is general information, not legal or medical advice.