Education in Greece

Education in Greece

File:Greece education logo.png
Ministry for National Education and Religious Affairs
Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs	Marietta Giannakou
National education budget (2001)
Budget	4,7 billion € (public) 2.7% of GDP1
General details
Primary languages	Greek
Literacy (2003)
Total	97.5
Male	98.6
Female	96.5
Enrollment
Total	1,426,175
Primary	786,025 2
Secondary	360,248 3
Post secondary	276,902 4
1Gianouridis & Bagley, p. 62 2000-2001 schoolyear (Επαιδευτικό Ελληνικό πίνακας 6.2, σ. 24) 32000-2001; loc. cit. 41999-200; ibid., 53

The Greek educational system has undergone significant changes and modernisations during the 1990's.

Primary Education

• Δημοτικό Σχολείο (Demotic School or Primary School)
  • Year 1, age 6 to 7
  • Year 2, age 7 to 8
  • Year 3, age 8 to 9
  • Year 4, age 9 to 10
  • Year 5, age 10 to 11
  • Year 6, age 11 to 12

Secondary Education

• Γυμνάσιο (Gymnasium - Middle / Secondary School)
  • Year 1, age 12 to 13
  • Year 2, age 13 to 14
• Year 3, age 14 to 15 (end of compulsory education)

• Λύκειο (Lyceum - High School)
  • Year 1, age 15 to 16
  • Year 2, age 16 to 17
  • Year 3, age 17 to 18

Tertiary Education

Tertiary education in Greece takes one of two forms:

• Τεχνολογικό Εκπαιδευτικό Ίδρυμα (Technologiko Ekpaideftiko Idryma, TEI - Technological Education Institute)
• Ανώτατο Εκπαιδευτικό Ίδρυμα (Anotato Ekpaideftiko Idryma, AEI - Highest education institute).
• Πολυτεχνείο (Polytekhneio - Polytechnic School), equal to a University. The most notable example is the National Technical University of Athens, which is also famous because of the students' uprising in November 17, 1973 against the Greek military junta.

Private Education

• There are public and private dimotika (primary education), gymnasia (middle school; secondary education), lykeia (high school; secondary education). Some of them are for foreigners, usually children of British or American families. For example see American Community Schools.
• Public and private IEK.
• Private universities and colleges (Laboratories of Free Studies, Ergastiria Eleutheron Spoudon), often franchises of foreign universities, sometimes non-profit organizations. For example see the ALBA Graduate Business School, University of Wales, Bangor, Mediterranean College, Deree College, etc.

Vocational Education

• Τεχνολογικό Επαγγελματικό Εκπαιδευτήριο (Tekhniko Epagelmatiko Ekpaideftirio - Technical Vocational Educational School, TEE)
• Ινστιτούτο Επαγγελματικής Κατάρτισης (Institouto Epagelmatikis Katartisis - Vocational Training Institute, IEK). OEEK is the government organisation which oversees these institutes.
• Private EES schools often offer seminars and 1-year vocational programmes, usually for Computing or Business studies. Young Greeks can seek private vocational education using the computer software products Eurofasma and Kefaleo (Capital).

Obsolete Institutions

• Τεχνικό Επαγγελματικό Λύκειο (Techniki Epagelmatiki Scholi - Technical Vocational Lyceum, TEL)
• Τεχνική Επαγγελματική Σχολή (Techniki Epagelmatiki Scholi - Technical Vocational School, TES)
• Ενιαίο Πολυκλαδικό Λύκειο (Eniaio Polykladiko Lykeio - Unified Multidisciplinary Lyceum, EPL)

Different Education for Men and Women

During the Hellenic period, men and women did not receive equal educations. Both sexes were taught different subjects in order to prepare them for the future that was planned out for them. Men and women in Ancient Greece also did not have an equal status. All men that were not slaves that lived within the Greek boundaries had the opportunity to be citizens. They had the opportunity to communicate their ideas through the political system that existed. Women on the other hand did not have access to citizenship and political power. Therefore, men and women had to be prepared to execute different tasks.

Greek culture placed great emphasis on the art of war. Male citizens of Greece were expected to fight and protect their country from invaders and enemies. When the Greeks waged war with neighboring countries, they used the phalanx formation. The phalanx formation required extremely violent and sustained frontal contact with the enemy. Greek boys were coached to conduct this kind of war through their education. Starting at eight years of age, boys were trained to endure solitude; they were encouraged to duel with each other to gain fighting experience and recognition and they were sometimes denied food in order to teach them to steal and develop swiftness and dexterity. Women on the other hand were prepared for a different future. Women’s education was shaped in order to prepare them for marriage. The goal of their education was to bring about skills in the art of seduction and to achieve great beauty. Most of the lessons they received were aimed at achieving these two goals and making young women into ideal wives and mothers. To sort out the most successful women, their education ended with beauty contests which were called Kallisteias. These contests took place in Mityleus in the sanctuary of Hera.

The victors of the challenges received recognition from their community for the efforts that they put into their education.

Current issues

The foremost topic of debate in recent years has been anagnorisi (αναγνώριση "recognition"): Private universities are forbidden by the 1975 constitution. Numerous private institutions, often franchises of European and American universities such as the University of Indianapolis and the State University of New York, are operating as EES schools (also known as Laboratories of Free Studies).

Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy), the Greek conservative right political party, claimed in the most recent elections that it will change the law so that private universities will be recognized, a move opposed by the then-ruling PASOK. Without official recognition, students who have an EES degree are unable to work in the public sector. PASOK did take some action after EU intervention, such as the creation of a special government agency which certifies the vocational status of certain EES degree holders, but not the academic status. The issue of full recognition is still a debate among Greek politicians. A new constitutional amendment proposed in December 2005 is expected to end this debate by allowing the function of non-profit private universities.

Greek Universities have yet to meet the ever-growing demands of enrolling most willing and able students to their rosters. As a result, a shortage in University-level education that is recognized in Greece, leads families and students to often look outside of Greece for a higher education. Countries such as France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States are priority choices for students who failed to be accepted to faculties, such as medicine, engineering or computer science, in Greece. In recent years, due to an increase and shift in the economy of Greece, students are less willing to study for an overinflated Medical or Legal occupation. Instead, popular choices are now Business, Information Technology, Computer Science, and Electrical Engineering have attracted Greek Students to universities in India, primarily (ISB), (IITs), (IISc), and the National Law School of India University to which in recent years, students from Greece have been blamed for unfairly receiving the Rhodes Scholarship due to being a racial minority.

Greece does not recognize three-year university degrees. Students who completed a Bachelor's degree in a foreign country find it difficult to find employment in the public sector, unless they next obtain a Master's degree. Doctors and Lawyers that come into Greece from degrees from abroad, must also go through an additional 6-9 months of testing and qualification before they are allowed to practice in Greece.

References

• Anastasios Giamouridis and Carl Bagley, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, vol. 24, No. 1, "Policy, Politics and Social Inequality in the Educational System", May 2006, pp. 1-21.
• Education Research Centre - Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, The Greek Education System. Facts and Figures (Supervision: Prof. V. Koulaidis. Compiled by C. Papakyriakopoulos, A. Patouna, A. Katsis & S. Georgiadou), Athens, 2003. (ISBN 960-541-106-7)
  • Template:El icon Κέντρο Εκπαιδευτικής Έρευνας, Το Ελληνικό Εκπαιδευτικό Σύστημαˑ Συνοπτική εικόνα σε αριθμούς, Αθήνα, 2003. (ISBN 960-541-108-3) [1] (accessed June 1 2006)
• Greek Educational System: The Implementation of the ICT in the Greek Curriculum in Compulsory Education, IACM/FORTH, November 2003 [2]

See also

• Greece
• List of universities in Greece
• Education
• Education by country

External links

• Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs
  • The Greek Education System
• The Education Research Centre of Greece
• Private Universities in Greece, comprehensive list with further information on the situation.
• i-Curriculum Project
• Primary schools in Greece