Rectors to call for law changes
University rectors, who are due to convene tomorrow, are set to propose to the government that it make some changes to its tertiary education law so that the institutions have a better chance of imposing the regulations. The new law gives students a reduced role in the decision-making process at universities and prevents them from having a major say in the election of rectors. Small groups of students have reacted to the new rules by forcing their way into meetings of university officials and staging sit-in protests that have made it impossible for the institutions to function normally. Under the new law, all students are allowed to vote for a new rector. Previously, the student unions affiliated with political parties were allowed to appoint delegates to vote. The unions linked to smaller parties fear that under the new system their voting power will be totally diluted and have displayed resistance to the rules. Rectors are also likely to propose that they can serve a second term in the position, which is forbidden under current regulations. Following the rising number of university meetings that have been disrupted by protesting students, the rectors will call on the government to introduce penalties for people who prevent the institution’s bodies from functioning properly. Greek universities need to realize that they are been left in the wake of most of their counterparts in Europe, according to the rector of the University of Thrace, Constantinos Simopoulos. «People have not understood that we will be relegated to the second tier,» he told Kathimerini.
