A/HRC/25/21 academic year 2012/13, a total of 28 students and teachers participated in the scheme; in 2013/14, 181 undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers and professionals were awarded a scholarship. Under the scholarship programme, in the academic year 2013/14, Turkish Cypriots were, for the first time ever, offered the option of studying at a university in the southern part of the island. OHCHR was informed by the Task Force for the Turkish Cypriot Community, Directorate-General for Enlargement of the European Commission, that the Commission also launched a grant scheme in November 2012 for Turkish Cypriot schools to benefit from modern teaching and management methods and to promote collaboration with Greek Cypriot schools. 48. In February 2013, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed its concern about the economic, linguistic and cultural challenges that girls belonging to ethnic minorities experience and that affect their academic performance and, ultimately, their transition to the labour market. The Committee therefore recommended that Cyprus intensify its efforts to remove economic, linguistic and cultural barriers faced by girls belonging to ethnic minorities, including Turkish Cypriot girls, in attaining a standard of performance that would facilitate their successful transition to further studies or the labour market.54 Furthermore, according to the reports of the Secretary-General submitted in 2013, there were no new developments regarding the establishment of a Turkish language school in Limassol.55 49. In August 2013, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination requested Cyprus to include in its next periodic report information on intercommunal initiatives undertaken by the State party and by civil society organizations to restore mutual confidence and improve relations between ethnic and/or religious communities as well as raise awareness through the impartial teaching of the history of Cyprus in schools and other State institutions.56 50. The Government of the Republic of Cyprus protested in October 2013 that the appointment of three educators at the high school and the nursery school in Rizokarpaso for the school year 2013/14 had been rejected without any reason given. In addition, it complained that seven textbooks used in public schools in government-controlled areas had been banned in the northern part of the island. The Turkish Cypriot authorities indicated, however, that the seven textbooks contained paragraphs that were totally unacceptable, as they promoted enmity against Turkish Cypriots.57 51. In July 2013, the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research, a nongovernmental organization that includes members from various ethnic, linguistic and professional backgrounds working at various educational levels in Cyprus, launched a policy paper on “Rethinking Education in Cyprus”. In the paper, it proposed a holistic view to education, in which the goals of peace education, human rights education, intercultural education, critical education and environmental education are integrated, in order to prepare school leaders, teachers, parents, children and young people to live in a multicultural, multilingual and multi-faith society in Cyprus. It also envisioned democratic education, free of any kind of discrimination, that involves students, teachers and parents of all cultural groups in Cyprus as active members of society in democratic processes of decision-making in schools.58 54 55 56 57 58 14 CEDAW/C/CYP/CO/6-7, paras. 25 and 26. S/2013/7, para. 16, and S/2013/392, para. 21. CERD/C/CYP/CO/17-22, para. 7. See also A/HRC/22/18, para. 47. AHDR, Policy Paper: Rethinking Education in Cyprus, available from www.ahdr.info/ckfinder/userfiles/files/POLICY%20PAPER_FINAL%20LR.pdf.