Education in the cosmopolitan world
Recent generations of Greek university graduates have grown up in a climate where the dream of prosperity that flourished in the period of post-dictatorship reformation started to fade. They experienced a serious economic crisis and uncertainty. At the same time, though, they also became accustomed to programs that allow students to study in other parts of Europe and live at a time when affordable travel, the internet and the blossoming of social media have given them a more cosmopolitan view of life and the world.
Therefore, whether nonprofit or private universities operate or not doesn’t concern them as much as how they will navigate a constantly evolving world that is accessible through their mobile phones or a mere three-hour plane journey away. A lot has been said in praise of private universities and what they can mean for Greece, but unless we see a serious nonprofit initiative that is interested in investing in education and research in this country, I won’t bank on these promises.
Academia no longer has walls. Today’s 50-year-olds – the parents of today’s students – could not have imagined back in their day at university things like postgraduate studies abroad, joint programs between Greek and foreign universities or courses at Greek universities conducted in English and other foreign languages. Studying at a time when a job in the public sector was the ultimate goal, they also could not have imagined the importance of technical and vocational training, something that is blatantly apparent today.
I recently spoke with a student who came from Krakow with the Erasmus program for a term at a regional Greek university. Behind his obvious desire to be polite, he was genuinely impressed by the professors, the climate at the institution and by his local fellow students. However, he also commented on the poor state of the facilities, and on the graffiti and posters covering the institution’s walls. That is not, though, the core; it is the wrapping. At their core, Greece’s state universities accomplish great things when their horizons are open. Nevertheless, there are people in the academic and political communities whose view does not extend beyond their own circle of influence. While there may be reasons for this, they run the risk of becoming marginalized and stuck in a trap of introspective whining unless they put their finger on the pulse of today.
True reform is not achieved by people (regardless of their political colors) taking the lead to wag their finger at others. They are decided and implemented by those who have a comprehensive understanding of reality, who understand its complexities and who have a vision – firstly on the personal level and then on the political one.
