A/HRC/16/21 have been taken to promote multicultural education, many teachers were reportedly proving unresponsive to this policy and hostile attitudes to Turkish Cypriots continued to be reported in schools in the south71. 40. Turkish Cypriot students still face a lack of access to EU exchange and educational programmes due to the non-recognition by the Republic of Cyprus of the universities in the northern part of the island. The European Commission is currently in contact with the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus regarding the possibility of offering Turkish Cypriots the option of studying at universities in the areas under the effective control of the Government of Cyprus in the academic year 2011/2012. This would happen within the framework of the scholarship scheme for the Turkish Cypriot community, which was set up by the Commission under the EU aid programme in order to compensate for the lack of mobility that would be offered by the Erasmus programme. The scheme allows Turkish Cypriot students and teachers to spend one year abroad at an EU university or higher education institution and the level of funding is far higher than that of Erasmus. In the academic year 2009/2010 scholarships were granted to 203 individuals and in the current academic year 102 students and teachers participate in the scheme72. G. Freedom of religion and cultural rights 41. Access to sites and icons of religious and cultural significance continued to be facilitated by UNFICYP. From November 2009 to November 2010, the mission facilitated 22 religious and commemorative events, of which 16 involved crossing the buffer zone to the northern part of the island, two involved crossing the buffer zone to the southern part and four were held in the buffer zone. A total of approximately 6,660 individuals participated in those events73. 42. For the first time since 1974, permission was granted for the Maronite community to conduct a religious service at the Ayia Marina Skyllouris church, despite its location inside a Turkish Forces military base. Encouraged by this positive development, UNFICYP received many more requests to facilitate religious observances and pilgrimages by Greek Cypriots in churches in the northern part of the island. Some of these were denied on various grounds, including the use of a church for other purposes such as a cultural centre or clinic, or its proximity to military bases; or for no specified reason74. 43. While generally enjoying freedom of worship, the Greek Cypriots living in the northern part of Cyprus must still inform/request permission from the authorities there to conduct religious services on specified days in some of the churches in their own villages and at the Apostolos Andreas monastery75. III. Conclusion 44. While there have been some positive developments in the reporting period, such as the opening of a new crossing point and passing of legislative amendments aimed at ensuring equal treatment of children of displaced mothers, the division of the island of Cyprus continues to constitute an obstacle to the full enjoyment of human rights. It is hoped that the current efforts by the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders to 71 72 73 74 75 12 Ibid., para. 104. Information received from the Task Force for the Turkish Cypriot Community, Directorate-General for Enlargement, European Commission. S/2010/264, para. 20; Information received from UNFICYP. Information received from UNFICYP. Ibid.