Greece

Partners situated in Country

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Country in a nutshell

GREECE (Ελλάδα – Elláda) officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkanic Peninsula and it includes more than 2000 islands situated in Ionian and Aegean Seas and it has a total surface area of 131,957 km2. Greece is a parliamentary republic and it’s considered as the cradle of the western culture and thought. Greece is a member of the European Union since 1981, of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union since 2001and also a member of NATO from 1952.

Athens is the capital of Greece and Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Volos, Ioannina, Larissa e Kavala are some of the most important cities of the country.

As of January 2008, the population of Greece is estimated at 11,262,000 by Eurostat : the 58,8% lives in the urban areas and only the 28,4% in rural areas.

The official language is the Modern Greek that is spoken by the 98.5% of population; moreover, there are some Slavic and Turkish minorities.

The widespread religion is the Orthodox Christian and the relationship between State and Church are regulated by the Third Article of the Greek Constitution.

Greece is divided in 13 perifereies (περιφέρειες) – Attica, Central Greece, Central Macedonia, Crete, East Macedonia e Thrace, Epirus, Ionian Island, North Aegean, Peloponnese, South Aegean, Thessaly, West Greece, West Macedonia – subdivided into a total of fifty-one prefectures called nomos. Greece is a Parliamentary Republic thanks to the Referendum of the 8th December 1974.

The President of the Republic, who is considered the edge of the state, is elected by the Parliament for a five-years terms, only for two mandate. The Greek Constitution, formed by 120 articles, foresee the separation of the three powers: executive, legislative and judiciary. The executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic and by the Government. The President of the Republic is the commandant in chief of the armed forces and he presides over the Defense Council. The civil authority of the armed forces is the Ministry of the national defence. The President of the Republic appoints the Prime Minister and the other Cabinet members. Legislative power is exercised by a The legislative power is exercised by a 300-member elective unicameral Parliament (Vouli ton Ellinon) : elections are held every four years by universal suffrage through a complex proportional system, with barrage at 3%. The judiciary power is independent from the executive and legislative and it comprehends three Supreme Court: the Court of Cassation (Άρειος Πάγος), the Council of State (Συμβούλιο της Επικρατείας) and the Curt of Auditors (Ελεγκτικό Συνέδριο). Greece has a multiparty system, dominated by two principles political party: the liberal-conservative New Democracy (ND), actually in power, and the social-democratic Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).

Country education policy

During the 19th century, have been implemented in Greece, many reforms in the education field, in relation to the structure of the system, the national curriculum and the language used for education. In 1975 the Constitution has established the new paradigm of education legislation that was introduced through the reform of the education system, one year later, in 1976. The reform in question has established a common language for education, has reformed the education division between primary, secondary and tertiary education and emphasized the modernization of curricula and the improvement of the administration and monitoring of education. The second period of reforms of the education system began in the mid-nineties and the third period in early 21 century, between 2004 and 2006. This reform, introduced important changes, like the creation of the Foundation of International University of Greece, the reform of secondary vocational training, the introduction of a new law for the assessment of education and legislative actions in relation to lifelong learning area.

In the Greek Constitution, education is identified as a responsibility of the state. The majority of Greek citizens attend public schools, in fact, there are few private schools that are supervised by the Ministry of Education. The Minister has a centralized control on state schools, sets educational curricula, he manages the staff and monitors the funds. At regional level the role of supervisor of the Minister is done through the Regional Councils for Primary and Secondary Education that operate in every prefecture. The tertiary institutions are almost totally autonomous, even if the Minister is responsible for funding. In accordance with Article 16 of the Greek constitution, education, both moral, intellectual, occupational and physical, is a basic mission for the state, with the aim of developing a national and religion conscience and provide adequate training to the future citizens.

The basic legislation is included in the following:

• Constitution 2001 (Article16).
• Law 682/1977: “About the private schools and boarding houses”.
• Law 1566/1985: “Structure and Operation of Primary and Secondary Education and other Stipulations”.
• Law 2817/2000: “Regional Directorates of Education”.
• Law 2916/2001: “Structure of Higher Education and settlement of issues in the Technological Sector”.
• Law 2986/2002: “Organisation of Regional Services of Primary and Secondary Education, assessment of teaching task and staff, teachers’ in service training and other stipulations”.
• Law 3027/2002: “Regulations concerning the Organisation of School Buildings for Higher Education and other stipulations”.
• Ministerial Decisions 21072α/Γ2/ Official Journal 303 v.B’/13-3-2003 and 21072β/Γ2/ Official Journal 304v.B’/13-3-2003, “Cross-Curricular Thematic Framework and Curricula of Primary and Secondary Education”.
• Law 3255/2004: “Regulations for Issues of all Educational Levels”.
• Law 3369/2005: “Systematisation of Lifelong Learningand other stipulations”.
• Law 3467/2005: “Selection of primary and secondary education teachers, regulations for Administration and Education issues and other stipulations”.
• Law 3475/2006: “Organization of secondary vocational education and other provisions”.
• Law 3549/2007: “Reform of the institutional framework concerning the structure and function of the higher education institutes”.

More recently legislation interventions made in the period 2000-2001 include :

1. Improvements have been made to the 1997/98 reform, regarding the access system to Higher Education and the hiring of educators. In the case of the first one notes a less rigid textbook based assessment system which exhibits features of analysis, association, critical thinking etc. in this regard one can claim that attempts are made to reach congruency between the curriculum and its contents and the assessment for access to higher education system.
2. Legislation regarding the fields of Special Education, decentralisation of education, training and evaluation of educators has been reformed (Law 2986/2002).
3. Technological Education Institutes have been upgraded by being incorporated in Higher Education which now consists of two parallel sectors namely: the University and the Technological ones. (Law 2916/2001).

The specific changes introduced into the education system with the Greek Reform of 2007 include: The establishment of Unified Upper Secondary School (Eniaio Lykeio) which is gradually replacing all other existing types of upper secondary school (lykeio); The procedure for admission to higher education has been changed, with emphasis on the assessment of pupils in the second and third degree of lykeio; The duration of kindergartens and primary schools has been stretched because it will gradually move to full-time; Second Chance Schools have been created specifically for teens who have already completed 18 years and have not yet completed the compulsory school; The design of a common curriculum for both primary and secondary education

A focal point of educational policy is the idea that education is a social resource and a right for every citizen. Based on laws passed by Parliament for each educational level, the State intends to render more democratic the whole process of education, decentralizing it, ensuring the participation of those who are directly involved in the process, raising the quality level provided and applying the principle of merit principle in the recruitment of specific staff . Compared to European data Greece isn’t investing many resources to fund educational projects: in fact, the percentage of GDP granted to education in 2005 was 3.98% . Also the other percentage rates are lower than the European average.

Higher education

Universities in Country

(this is an important section)

Higher education reform

The Bologna Process

(very important for European countries)

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

(another very important section)

References

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