Steps are being taken toward the creation of a more technically trained labor force

Provision for higher education is expanding—five new universities and 80 university departments have been created in the last four years

nsuring that education equips young people to be good citizens is as important in Greece today as it was in the time of the ancient Greeks. But modern Greek society and an economy that needs to be competitive in European and international markets have set new challenges for educators.

The government has launched a national dialog on how to make long-term improvements in the education system to ensure that it meets contemporary needs.
“The education system must respond to the new challenges of our time,” says Marietta Yiannakou, Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs. “On the one hand there is the need for education, and on the other training must meet the demands of development, competitiveness, and respond to the labor market.”

Meeting both needs requires a new approach, and the Minister does not underestimate the challenge that it presents. “Universities and teachers are not used to seeing education in this way,” she says. “They have to see it from both perspectives and fulfill the criteria in classical education and training together. It is a considerable challenge and it is of huge importance.”

MARIETTA YIANNAKOU Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has called for the political parties and the educational community to rally to find the best possible solution. And the government is backing its promises with cash. In its budget for 2005, the largest increases in state expenditures are provided for education and employment.

The quality of Greek education has already improved considerably in recent years. Important steps have been taken to upgrade the education system’s contribution toward the creation of a more technically trained labor force. New curricula have been established focusing not only on the needs of the Greek market, but also on those of the European and international markets.

A number of priorities are now being addressed. The first is to enhance intercultural education to reflect Greece’s multicultural society by helping those who are excluded from the education system, such as the children of immigrants or other socially excluded groups.

The second priority is to provide older people with opportunities to further their education. Other priorities include encouraging a spirit of business enterprise, and promoting equal opportunities between men and women.

Dimitrios Skiadas, Special Secretary for European Union and Community Framework Issues, advises the Minister and suggests where educational funds should be allocated. He also represents the Ministry to EU educational institutions on matters of European educational policy.

“In Greece today, we suffer from structural unemployment,” Mr. Skiadas says. “We need to improve our vocational programs. We have a situation where jobs exist, but we do not have enough skilled people to perform them. This is a problem we are working to solve.”

DIMITRIOS SKIADAS Special Secretary for EU and Community Support Framework Issues

EU funds have been allocated for a program running until 2006, with further funding planned for a second program to run from 2007 to 2013. “We are allocating money to projects, but at the same time we are looking for investment. We want to see a return, and not simply absorb the funds,” Mr. Skiadas explains.

Some future allocations involve important political decisions. “For instance, for the first time in our operation program we have identified the political choice of financing private educational institutions—albeit indirectly. This is something that was not even considered under the previous government. They had put their focus solely on state education.”

Greece has more than 20 universities and technological institutions. The last four years have seen the creation of five new universities and more than 80 new university departments. One of the new institutions is the Aegean University, which is spread around the islands as part of the attempt to provide educational facilities across Greece.

In education, as in many other important areas in Greece today, attempts are being made to sustain the Olympic spirit. “We are establishing a class called ‘Olympic Education’ in primary and secondary schools in order to implant Olympic ideas to young kids,” says Mr. Skiadas.