The Department of Higher Education (DHE) has long realized the importance of high-quality national data about labour market needs and what graduates do after obtaining their degree in higher education. For this purpose, the DHE has received funding from RRF for the project ‘Development of a National Graduate Tracking Mechanism and Design and Implementation of an Employers’ Skills Survey’. The main objectives of the project are as follows:

• the design, development and implementation of a comprehensive National Graduate Tracking Mechanism that will generate high quality and comparable data on a longitudinal basis from graduates (at European Qualification Framework (EQF) levels 5-7) of all higher education institutions (HEIs) in Cyprus, regarding their experiences in both their education and employment after graduation by combining survey with data from administrative sources;
• the design, development and implementation of a National Employers’ Skills Survey on a longitudinal basis regarding the current and anticipated needs in terms of knowledge and skills by the labour market; and
• the participation of Cyprus in two waves of the EUROGRADUATE survey (2022 and 2025) as there is a clear understanding of the benefits arising from a Graduate Tracking Mechanism at both national and European level.

All surveys will provide high quality national data on a longitudinal basis regarding the current and future skills needs of the labour market, skills gaps and mismatches, graduates’ employability as well as social inclusion, mobility, and accessibility. Findings will provide the evidence base to a variety of stakeholders including policymakers in various Ministries (e.g. the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth; the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance; the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy), the Human Resource Development Authority, HEIs, researchers, employers, parents and prospective higher education students to make informed decisions that will ultimately contribute to increasing the responsiveness of Cyprus education and training system to labour market needs.

The project is being undertaken by a contractor (PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cyprus) after an open call in eProcurement. The first data collection event for all surveys will take place in 2023.