ND MPs were “in favor” of the principle of the bill, SYRIZA-PS, PASOK-Movement for Change, KKE, KO Nea Aristera, KO Spartiates and KO Niki were “against”, while the “reservation ” for the plenary debate, expressed the representatives of the Hellenic Solution and Freedom of Navigation.
A brake on the flight of young people to study abroad, attracting foreign students, but also the creation of new jobs are some of the points highlighted by the bodies that supported the bill on non-state universities in Parliament.
On the second day of the session in the Parliament, with a hearing of 20 bodies, the spirits were much calmer than the “explosive” premiere reserved for the Minister of Education, Kyriakos Pierrakakisthe opposition MPs on the Education Affairs Committee last Tuesday.
Bodies connected to the market expressed their positive attitude to the bill. The Association of Business Industries (SEB) stated that the bill is in the right direction and recognizes the initiative to synchronize the country’s academic framework with the rest of the developed world and the effort to strengthen higher education by moving away from the shackles of the past as particularly positive developments.
The Hellenic Chamber of Commerce developed five reasons, including limiting the flight of Greeks to study abroad, the cost of living from attracting foreign students and the return of skilled labor currently operating in other countries. The Central Union of Chambers of Greece was also positively positioned.
Interesting facts were also presented by the president of DOATAP, Orestis Kalogirouwho reported that, within 2023, the body received 8,500 applications, of which 75% came from Cyprus, Great Britain and Bulgaria and 55% of them concern public and private Cyprus.
From the point of view of public universities, the agencies spoke of a significant change in the country’s Higher Education, underlining the need to support the public university.
The president of the Synod of Rectors, Fotis Maris, after first speaking of a “historic moment” for the Democritus University of Thrace, which is being strengthened with new faculties in the bill, argued that non-state universities will have an impact on public institutions, especially regional ones. He noted, however, that the legacy of leading schools, such as the Law School of Komotini and the Medicine School of Alexandroupolis, will not be affected by the new Institutions.
The two student associations that were invited to speak appeared divided, with the representative of Komotini Law stating that “we consider it unthinkable that in 2024 almost 40,000 of our peers will be forced to study abroad at non-state and even purely private universities, as this possibility is not is given to them in our country”, while the representative of the Medical Student Association opposed the bill, noting: “We wrote 19,000 credits to enter Medicine with great effort, ours and our families’, and now with this bill anyone will become a doctor he has 19,000 euros to pay.”
Dimitris Vervesos, representing the Plenary of the Presidents of the Bar Associations, was placed on the controversial issue of the constitutionality of the bill. “Obviously you can vote as many laws as you want, you have the majority, the point is that we will give our opinion where and when it is necessary to those who want and need to hear the constitutionality of the provisions, before the competent bodies that are not only the Parliament, but also the Greek courts”.
The positive impact of EKPA’s work on society is recorded in an Alco survey on Higher Education. In the same survey, 70% of respondents rate public university education positively, the highest among the tiers.
The most “famous” university with a percentage of 26%, compared to 18% for NTUA and AUTH, and with the most prestige at a percentage of 32%, compared to NTUA with 26%, is EKPA in the survey, while 8 out of 10 reported that the level of education is “good” and “very good”.
The findings reflect the strong position of EKPA in all indicators of recognition and prestige (78%), as well as in the quality of studies (76%) and the prestige of its degrees (74%).
For Higher Education, 70% of the respondents stated that their assessment of the level of study is positive. Primary Education comes second with a percentage of 58%, while Secondary Education is rated even lower with a percentage of 48%.
It is worth noting that the survey records only a 35% positive evaluation for the level of the colleges.
Problems
The most important problems identified by citizens in universities are the lack of funding (30%), infrastructure (28%), but also violence and delinquency at a rate of 27%. Conversely, only 4% consider prestige and level of education to be the biggest problem.
“The findings of the pan-Hellenic poll prove the great trust that the Greek society has in the Greek public university, much greater trust than in other levels of education. It is confirmed once again that the EKPA is the first university in the collective consciousness of the Greeks, something that also goes hand in hand with the many scientific achievements at the international level”, the rector of the EKPA, Mr. Gerasimos Siassos, said in a statement.
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