Underdeveloped education
The only factor that governments have failed to take into consideration in creating technical colleges in the regions was the quality of education. Of all the programs to revive the provinces that have been announced with much fanfare, the only one that had any result was the false promise of education in technical fields that led thousands of students to migrate within their own country. The bait was a degree which carried little educational or market value. The reduction in military service created the need for a new storage room for the «would-be unemployed.» As a result, university education became extremely fragmented and a whole new range of specializations were invented. The rejuvenation of the provinces was not based on EU funding but on parents’ handouts. One after the other, Greece’s middle-sized towns begun to host students. All their hopes for development were invested in students; and their manners were not always subtle. Development became another name for easy profits. When three or four out of 10 residents are education migrants, then all you have to do is increase rents, open bars and restaurants and, of course, build tiny student flats in monstrous blocks. It all amounts to a perverted concept of development and education alike. Hence it will come as no surprise if the last factor to be considered in deciding whether to let students who scored below the pass grade into technical colleges is, again, the quality of education. Local communities are already on the warpath, while mayoral candidates and other big shots speak out against government policies that will «condemn the provinces to decline.» Given that governments are allergic to political costs, we can only wait to see what officials will think of to solve the problem without creating even more problems.
