September 3, 2011
Greeks are not exactly short of bad news, but here is something to raise their spirits. For the first time in the country’s two-year crisis, the governing socialists and opposition conservatives have agreed on a bill in parliament. A new law to reform universities was overwhelmingly approved on August 24th. “It’s the best piece of legislation on education in 30 years,” says a Greek academic.
The state spends more per student than almost any other European Union member, but the quality of university and college education (with a handful of exceptions) is dismally low. Until the crisis hit, about 30,000 Greeks a year studied abroad. Many stayed on, depriving the country of talented professionals.
At a Greek university students take an average of 7.6 years to complete a first degree. Tuition is free but teachers make few demands, so many students turn to political activism. An “asylum” law forbade the police from entering university premises. This encouraged drug-dealing and the stockpiling of petrol bombs on campus.
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