Greece’s Education Ministry made public new plans to introduce changes to the funding structure for postgraduate studies. These changes are yet another source of student and teaching staff protest against the government (see ACA Newsletter June 2007). The draft bill was prepared by the Education Ministry and was submitted to the National Educational Council for public discussion. The bill aims to promote cooperation between Greek universities and their foreign peers on postgraduate courses. It specifically includes developing more research programmes in association with European universities and promoting the exchange of researchers to help the Greek education system gain from foreign know-how.

According to the Education Ministry, the proposed law will also give tertiary institutions more freedom, allowing them more methods to finance their courses. But the Hellenic Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (POSDEP) has already pronounced its veto, as it believes the government is attempting to further link the university with market financing.

POSDED also argues that the government should keep the higher education system exclusively within the state's domain.  However, the Greek government has backing in the  OECD report which says that poor quality of tertiary education and universities without autonomy are major weaknesses for Greece.

Press release