Athens news

21.2.2007 | 16:15

greina frá þessu hér ma;

SMOKE signals from last week's meeting of university rectors with Education Minister Marietta Yannakou suggested that both sides might finally be feeling their way towards a face-saving compromise.

But many are still not satisfied.

Despite the green light from the council of rectors on February 4, university teachers and students remain sharply divided. Professors have vowed to continue their action, while students continue to occupy more than 300 university and college departments across the country.

The proposed reforms remain unpopular. The government's plan to lift the state monopoly of higher education by revising article 16 of constitution is just as controversial.

The past 12 months have been an annus horribilis for Yannakou. The embattled minister has failed to convince the critics of the merits of her proposed university education reforms.

But Yannakou will not back down.

"Know that the education [reforms] will proceed," she told parliament on February 4. "As long as this government is [in power], it will proceed along the path it has paved from the very start."

"A large number of distinguished university teachers is supporting our government," added Yannakou, responding to criticism from opposition lawmakers. "We know that this bothers you. It's the first time that the council of university rectors has taken a stand [in favour of the reforms]."

The view from unionists is different.

The Hellenic Federation of University Teachers' Associations (POSDEP) has called for universities and technical colleges nationwide to close down until the end of this month.

Continued strike action has postponed winter examinations at many universities, which means that thousands of students could miss the school year.

"For us, nothing has changed and we will continue our strike action," said POSDEP general secretary, Yannis Maistros, ahead of a massive nationwide rally on February 8.

Public primary and secondary schools nationwide are also scheduled to shut down on February 14, 15 and 24 when parliament plenary is scheduled to debate whether to revise article 16 of the constitution.

Opponents of the constitutional revision argue that such a move would undermine public education.

At present, only public universities and colleges are recognised in Greece. Degrees earned by foreign universities that are linked to private higher education institutes abroad are not recognised as equal to Greek university diplomas.

The question now, however, is how much longer the government will wait to table the proposals. The government had initially pledged to bring the reform proposals to parliament by September 2006.

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