School-leavers want to teach
Most young Greeks once craved high-paying jobs as doctors, lawyers or civil engineers. Now, according to the latest data provided by the Education Ministry, school-leavers applying for university places are much more down-to-earth, seeking to be trained as teachers, police officers, physiotherapists, even dietitians. Candidates in the summer’s university entry exams appear, above all, to have been angling for jobs in the civil service. Although the single most popular university seats were in the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) computer science department (listed as the top preference by 2,032 candidates), Thessaloniki University’s teaching department came a close second (2,021). Furthermore, the third most popular seats were at Athens University’s teaching department. This would appear to reflect the growing demand for teaching jobs created by the new all-day primary schools. A total of 333 school-leavers were accepted into the two teaching departments. Police academies also proved a highly popular destination, being the first choice of a total 2,183 candidates. Of these, 1,007 wanted to be officers, and 1,176 lower-ranking members of the force. By contrast, the traditionally highly desirable NTUA department of civil engineering was the first choice of 1,164 candidates. Studying to be a dietician proved more popular than nursing. Some 317 people listed the Athens Harokopeio University’s dietetics department as their prime selection, compared to 297 who wanted to study nursing in the capital. The Athens state technical college (TEI) department of physiotherapy attracted 532 bids, while 575 candidates listed the academy for merchant marine officers as their top preference.
