CAT/OP/CYP/1 authorities should keep staff well informed of the unaccompanied minors’ legal situation. 69. The Subcommittee also notes with concern that, in the Cypriot school system, children can only enrol once a year, in September. This leaves a considerable number of unaccompanied minors outside of the education system and distressed about the lack of meaningful activities available to them, leading many of them to say that their everyday life revolves around “sleeping, eating, sleeping”. The Subcommittee is concerned that the lack of information and the failure to provide answers and explanations to questions directly contributes to stress and anxiety among the unaccompanied minors. 70. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party ensure that every unaccompanied minor has effective access to an education that is suited to his or her needs and abilities and that is designed to prepare him or her for inclusion in society. In addition, every child should, when appropriate, receive vocational training in an occupation that is likely to prepare him or her for future employment. Unaccompanied minors should also be able to preserve and practise their own recreational, cultural and artistic traditions. Given the particular vulnerability of unaccompanied minors, the Subcommittee recommends that the State party give due regard to ensuring that such minors have sufficient opportunities to participate in sports, in the arts and in leisure activities. In addition to being enrolled in school, unaccompanied minors should be offered intensive language courses. 71. In the institution for unaccompanied girls, the Subcommittee received several complaints about the lack of heating and, in particular, the girls’ inability to adequately control the temperature. 72. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party ensure that there is adequate heating, that the heating is suitable to the climatic conditions and that the heating system is in good working order. E. Athalassa mental health hospital 73. The Subcommittee visited the two closed wards at the Athalassa mental health hospital, one of which is for women and one of which is for men. 74. Although the ward for men was austere and impersonal, being equipped only with beds and closets, the Subcommittee notes the efforts made by the staff in the ward for women to create a welcoming atmosphere by using visual stimuli and decorations and by arranging group activities for patients. 75. Despite the poor material conditions of the facility, the patients who were interviewed spoke positively of their relations with staff. Nurses had a good understanding of patients’ needs and were considerate. The Subcommittee is pleased to note that restraints were used only when strictly necessary. 76. The Subcommittee is concerned that the hospital is clearly old and that its facilities are rundown and outdated. In particular, the Subcommittee believes that patients in closed wards ought to have access to outdoor spaces. A modern psychiatric care facility is needed. 77. The Subcommittee recommends improving the material conditions at Athalassa mental health hospital, including by repainting the ward for men and ensuring that patients have direct access to an outdoor area. 78. The Subcommittee is concerned that when these two wards are used to hospitalize patients from the Nicosia central prison no additional specialist staff are made available to ensure that all patients continue to receive appropriate levels of medical care in a safe and secure environment. 79. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party ensure that the medical care available to all patients is not negatively affected by the hospitalization of patients from the Nicosia central prison and that there is enough staff for all patients to receive appropriate medical care in a safe and secure environment. 12