Education in Greece

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Education in Greece

Educational oversight

Minister for National Education
and Religious Affairs

Ministry for National Education
and Religious Affairs
Marietta Giannakou

Funding>National education budget

676 million € (public)
Total spending equal to 2.7% of GDP¹ (2001)

Language>Primary language(s) of education

Greek

system

Literacy (2003)
• Men
• Women

97.5 %
98.6 %
96.5 %

Enrollment
• Primary education>Primary
• Secondary
• Post-secondary

786,025 ²
360,248 ³
276, 902 ⁴

Attainment
• Secondary education>Secondary diploma
• Post-secondary diploma

%
%

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.

Contents

1 Primary Education
2 Secondary Education
3 Tertiary Education
4 Private Education
5 Vocational Education
6 Obsolete Institutions
7 Current Issues
8 References
9 See also

Primary Education

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

Secondary Education
* Γυμνάσιο (Gymnasium or Middle School)
** Year 1, age 11 to 13
** Year 2, age 13 to 14
** Year 3, age 14 to 15 (End of compulsory education)
* Λύκειο (Lyceum or 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 three forms:

Technological Education Institute (Τεχνολογικά Εκπαιδευτικά Ιδρύματα, or TEI)
AEI Higher education institute.
Polytechnic (Πολυτεχνείο). 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 IEKs.
Private universities and colleges (Laboratories of Liberal Studies, Ergastiria Eleutheron Spoudon), often franchises of foreign universities, sometimes non-profit organizations. For example see the University of Wales, Bangor, Mediterranean College, Deree College, etc. There is a comprehensive list ["Private Unviersities in Greece"] with more information on the situation.

Vocational Education

TEE and IEK.
OEEK is the government body which oversees the IEK schools. See http://www.oeek.gr
Private EES schools often offer seminars and 1-year vocational programmes, usually for Computing or Business studies. It is very common for young Greeks to seek private vocational education for using the computer software products Eurofasma and Kefaleo (Capital).

Obsolete Institutions

Techniko Epagelmatiko Lykeio (TEL): Technical Vocational Lyceum
Techneki Epagelmatiki Scholi (TES): Technical Vocational School
Eniaeo Polykladiko Lykeio (EPL): Unified Multidisciplinary Lyceum

Current Issues

The foremost topic of debate in recent years has been anagnorisi (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 Liberal Studies, LLS).

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 taken 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.

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.

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.
Κεντρό Εκπαιδευτικής Ερεύνας, το Ελληινκό εκπαιδευτικό σύστυμαˑσυνοπτική εικόνα σε αριθμούς, Αθήνα, 2003. [link]. Accessed June 1, 2006.