A small industry of vocational schools selling counterfeit diplomas has been uncovered in Arta, central Greece.

This came as no great surprise and simply proved what is already self-evident. Firstly, that the private education sector is not exactly overrun with angels and, secondly, that when the state decides to take its supervisory role seriously, it can bring about results.

Many were quick to condemn private education overall on the basis of a few people having broken the law. They forget, however, that even in the state university entrance exams – and this is about as state-run as an institution can get – a number of discrepancies have been noted in the past.

What these critics fail to understand is that illegality blossoms not when a sector is private or public, but when there are no supervisory authorities to discover these illegalities and subsequently punish them. This is the role of the state: to quash crime wherever it appears, whether in the private or public sector.