Over 400 people have gathered in Athens to demonstrate against education reforms. The crowd consisted largely of university professors and school
Over 400 people have gathered in Athens to demonstrate against education reforms.
The crowd consisted largely of university professors and school teachers angry at an apparent politicisation of the education system. Reforms include: changes to the way higher education intake will be managed; new systems for appointing head teachers and university deans; and bringing back students who left without graduating.
Thanos Veremis is Emeritus Professor at the University of Athens. He said:
“It’s a Greek education ‘Grexit’ from the European systems. And I really do not know what message the reform – or anti-reform, as we’re calling it – is sending to the rest of Europe.”
While former university Dean-turned-opposition-MP Theodoros Fortsakis claimed:
“The best students will be completely discouraged from becoming involved in the educational process.”
Demonstrators say the reforms mean politics will make a comeback in the day-to-day operation of educational institutions, particularly universities.
Euronews’ Akis Tatsis echoed this feeling:
“Those demonstrating claim, among other things, that the Greek government’s reforms take the country’s education system back 40 years.”