Far-reaching university overhaul in the pipeline
A new bill unveiled by the Education Ministry on Thursday seeks to pave the way for a drastic overhaul of Greece’s chronically dysfunctional university institutions with student exchanges (so-called Greek Erasmus program), joint degrees, dual majors, industrial postgraduate programs and student startups among the options introduced by the legislation.
The bill, which will be put to public consultation in the coming days before it is put to vote during the summer, also eyes a redesign of universities’ administrative model and the application of fairer, meritocratic criteria in the selection of academic staff.
The ministry said the bill aims to “solve chronic problems” and bring universities up to par with European and international standards. The planned changes, it added, are designed to enhance the flexibility and effectiveness of universities while decentralizing responsibilities away from the ministry.
