Recreating problems
The National Technical University senate’s decision regarding the just-passed reform law would be of particular value and a contribution to public debate were it not itself the product of the problems the law is designed to rectify. It is only in Greece that party youth group representatives vote for the university’s administration officials. We won’t even mention the charges of dealings between candidates for office and student bosses over various issues. The issue is that the environment of pressure and blackmail deters those who hold differing viewpoints – and they are not few – from expressing them and shaking up the status quo. At Greek tertiary institutions, there is a vicious cycle that reproduces the same problems over and over. The previous law allowed for a network of vested interests that forced universities to continually lower the bar. This vicious cycle must be broken.
