New law to keep an eye on colleges

Bill on private education unveiled

Dozens of private colleges that offer thousands of senior high school students opportunities in further education if they fail to make it into university are to be more strictly regulated under a new bill unveiled by the government yesterday.

The colleges, some of which operate as franchises of British or American institutions, sprang up in the 1990s but had fallen into a legal no-man’s land and operated under the supervision of the Development Ministry.

The qualifications of the students who graduate from the schools are not considered on a par with degrees from state universities, nor are the private colleges subject to any kind of inspections.

Education Minister Evripidis Stylianidis says he wants to change this by assuming responsibility for the colleges and introducing tougher checks on the schools in order to ensure that students are properly educated.

“Our main target us to ensure the high quality of education in post-high school studies and carry out constant checks to make sure that this quality is maintained so that the interests of all students are served,” he said following a meeting of the Inner Cabinet.

Stylianidis indicated that the quality of teaching and facilities offered to students at colleges operating as franchises would be secured by requiring them to meet the same standards and prerequisites as the foreign institutions with which they collaborate.

The Education Ministry will not have any say regarding the courses that the colleges may offer.

Greece is under pressure from the European Union, which has taken legal action, to recognize degrees from private colleges as equivalent to those from state universities.

Stylianidis hinted yesterday that although Greece will soon have to conform, it may stipulate that students will have to complete at least part of their studies at the “parent” institution abroad before having their degree recognized.

This could mean that tens of thousands of students who have passed through the doors of private colleges since the 1990s will not have their degree fully recognized.

Stylianidis played down fears that the draft law, to be tabled in Parliament in the next few days, would lead to state universities being overlooked and marginalized.