THE SORRY STATE OF THE GREEK EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM:

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000191 FOR EUR/PPD, EUR/SE AND ECA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2019 TAGS: PGOV KAPO OPRC OEXC SCUL GR SUBJECT: THE SORRY STATE OF THE GREEK EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: A CHALLENGE FOR U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PART I Classified By: Ambassador Daniel V. Speckhard for reasons 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: This is the first of two cables on the challenges created by the Greek educational system for U.S. public diplomacy in Greece. This cable will describe the state of the sector and current attempts to reform it. The second cable will describe how we are reaching out to Greek youth despite these obstacles. ¶2. (C) The Greek public educational system is in disarray, the victim of years of fiscal neglect, political wrangling, and a sad evolution to a lowest common denominator approach, where the rights of students to demonstrate and disrupt classes trump the rights of all to a quality education. Politically-affiliated student groups wield increasing power, including in decisions which in other countries are normally left to school administrators. Those students who are serious about trying to do well in school and gain admittance to a good university are forced to enroll in costly after-hours private lessons to succeed. Private schools and universities face their own problems, as government after government has bowed to political pressure to keep them -- and their degrees -- on the periphery, so as not to undermine further the weak public educational system. Teachers are underpaid, rectors and administrators are cowed, parents are frustrated, and students are growing increasingly hostile and defiant. These elements, we believe, played a role in the violent youth demonstrations of last December. ¶3. (C) New Minister of Education Spiliotopoulos has pledged to try and defuse this ticking time bomb with a series of "clean slate" talks meant to smooth the relations between the government, student groups and educators in the hopes of finding solutions, but it remains to be seen whether the New Democracy party has the mettle, means and muscle to implement badly-needed reforms. End summary. The Greek Public Educational System: Just How Bad Is It? -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) The Greek public school system has been on a downward trajectory for some time now. Years of financial neglect have taken their toll on structures, faculty and curricula. Many public schools are old, and suffer from vandalism and neglect. It is not unheard of to see a public school with broken windows, insufficient heating, or substandard plumbing. Special needs classes or facilities are nonexistent, as are college advisors. Most public schools do not offer extracurricular activities such as sports or music as a positive outlet for youthful energy. While the average EU country spends 5 percent of its total budget on education each year, in 2008 Greece spent only 3 percent, down from 3.61 percent in 2004. ¶5. (C) Teachers are underpaid but heavily unionized. The Greek Union of Secondary School Teachers -- OLME -- does not hesitate to protest or to close schools via strike. Primary and secondary school teachers take national exams to qualify, but once they are hired, there is no mechanism by which the state can evaluate their performance (the same holds true for university professors). A typical starting salary for a secondary school teacher is 1200 euro per month (approximately 1600 dollars),while an average salary for a high school teacher with ten years of experience is 1500 euro per month (approximately 2000 dollars). Because of their low salaries, teachers often go on strike to demand pay raises. A large majority also resort to offering after-hours tutoring, either on a one-on-one basis or through private institutes ("frontistiria") to supplement their incomes. Frontistiria and Parallel Education -------------- ¶6. (C) Frontistiria were first introduced in the 1970s as a way to help underachieving students keep up with their classmates. Today, an estimated 90 percent of Greek high school students attend a frontistirio for at least one course (particularly foreign languages and university exam preparation). The Ministry of Education reports that country-wide there are 2,642 frontistiria for university exam preparation, and 7,360 foreign language frontistiria. Yearly frontistiria fees, depending on student need, can run up to more than 5000 euro (6600 dollars),making it extremely lucrative for teachers and owners of frontistiria. Rates vary according to subject, level, and location of the frontistirio; university entrance exam classes can range between 40-70 euro (53-93 dollars) per hour. According to the Ministry of Education, in 2007 Greek families paid 569 million euro (approximately 757 million dollars) to frontistiria to prepare their children for university entrance exams, and 437 million euro (approximately 595 million dollars) for foreign language instruction at frontistiria. ¶7. (C) The frontistirio phenomenon today is a self-perpetuating black marketQ Underpaid public school teachers have few incentives to work hard in the classroom when they can make more money teaching in the frontistiria. The level of instruction in the regular classroom decreases and students pay less attention, and their performance suffers. Parents, concerned that their children will not be competitive, enroll them in frontistiria, where the level of instruction (by the same teachers) and the level of learning (by the same students) are higher. Unfortunately, despite this parallel education, Greek students are not keeping up with their European counterparts. A 2006 OECD study found that, out of 27 EU countries surveyed, 15-year-old Greek students came in 25th, 26th, and 27th in reading, science and math, respectively. ¶8. (C) The place that the frontistiria have come to occupy in Greek life -- employer, moneymaker and education provider -- makes it exceedingly difficult for any government to raise the issue of serious educational reform. Improving the educational system would mean reducing the need for frontistiria, with significant political cost to the government and financial cost to the state. Greek Universities: Powerful Student Unions and Asylum -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) The situation at universities is also troublesome, but for different reasons. The biggest challenge for Greek universities is the overly powerful, politically-affiliated student unions. Greece's university student movement has steadily grown in power and influence since 1973, when Athens Polytechnic University students became the symbol of popular resistance to, and a catalyst for the downfall of, the despised military dictatorship ruling Greece at the time. The 1973 Polytechnic uprising, in which a number of students were crushed by junta tanks on the Polytechnic grounds, gave birth to the concept of university "asylum" still in effect and used as political capital today. Incredibly, police and other law enforcement officials are barred from entering any public school or university premises, for any reason, unless the district attorney's office requests and is given approval for such action by the university's council (which includes a student representative, so approval is never granted.) As a result, abuse of asylum by criminals, anarchists and other such groups has grown over the years. During the extended, violent youth demonstrations in Athens and Thessaloniki in December 2008, anarchists attacked police, destroyed and looted businesses, set fire to vehicles, and then hid out behind the safety of university walls, where they proceeded to destroy libraries, vandalize classrooms and steal computers. University contacts tell us that, during one particularly violent night, a university rector and friendly faculty formed a human chain around the university's library to protect its rare books collection. The extent of the destruction in December was so disturbing that public calls for abolishment of asylum began. Even the PASOK party, a traditionally staunch supporter of asylum, appears to recognize that the situation cannot continue. Louka Katseli, PASOK shadow Minister of Economy, recently told the PAO that universities should begin employing campus police to stop the looting and violence on campuses. More leftist parties, including SYRIZA and the communist (KKE) parties, however, have vowed to protect asylum at all costs. ¶10. (C) University student unions decide everything from sit-ins (frequent) to faculty appointments (highly politicized). Faculty, including rectors, are chosen by a board where student union reps have equal say and veto power. Different departments and schools are controlled by different political groups, and university leadership is often reluctant to take them on. In many cases, faculty themselves belong to political parties and actively support student unions, often depending on them for their promotions. No Welcome Mat for the Embassy -------------- ¶11. (C) Anti-Americanism is still quite high in Greek universities, and student demonstrations often lead past the Embassy. The highly-politicized and often leftist nature of many universities in Greece makes it dangerous for Embassy staff to visit campuses and impossible for the Embassy to be identified in joint programs. In the few instances where friendly professors can be convinced to take advantage of Embassy programs and assistance, we must keep a low profile or risk disruption, or worse, of the program by the student left. Even GoG officials have difficulty in entering universities. Former PASOK Minister of Education Venizelos tried two years ago, when he was simply a member of parliament, to visit the Athens Polytechnic and meet with students. He was rebuffed, and his bodyguards' vehicles were vandalized. Is Private Education the Answer to a Failing System? -------------- -------------- ¶12. (C) Article 16 of the Greek Constitution stipulates that the Greek state is responsible for providing free higher education, for all. This has been interpreted to mean that only degrees from public institutions can be recognized by the Greek state. Private colleges and universities in Greece, including U.S.-affiliated schools, operate as "learning centers," and their degrees are neither recognized nor valid for employment in the public sector. The end result is that graduates of private institutions are effectively barred from seeking a license for certain professions and cannot qualify at all for public sector employment. EU Directive 2005/66 requires recognition of professional qualifications of university graduates who earn their degrees at local, private EU schools. Despite an EU court-ordered decision that Greece must comply by October 2007, so far Greece has not acceded to the EU directive. If Greece eventually complies with the EU directive but does not also include American-affiliated institutions, those institutions will be greatly disadvantaged -- something the Embassy is working hard to avoid. ¶13. (C) The Embassy spends a considerable amount of time advocating on behalf of U.S. institutions operating in Greece. It is noteworthy that children of many Greek officials from across the political spectrum attend private secondary school and/or private university in Greece. The GoG appears to recognize the value of the U.S.-style education these institutions provide and has demonstrated willingness to work with us to regularize the status of these institutions and implement a transparent accreditation system for recognition of degrees. The GoG prefers to keep these discussions low-profile, however, given the expected negative reaction from the left and from student groups about perceived erosion of the "free and for all" educational promise. What About Reform? -------------- ¶14. (C) Educational reform has been a hot topic in Greece for years. In January 2006, Prime Minister Karamanlis announced a plan to reform higher education; the ensuing mass student protests and occupQon of university buildings closed schools for weeks at a time. Former Minister of Education Marietta Yannakou lost her parliamentary seat in the 2007 elections after pushing an unpopular university overhaul. However, PM Karamanlis reiterated on January 25 of this year that education reform remains a top priority for his government. In an effort to boost the GoG's image on the educational front after the December 2008 events, PM Karamanlis replaced Minister of Education Stylianides with Aris Spiliotopoulos. A young ND member who has served on student unions and as ND press spokesman, Spiliotopoulos is supposed to embody ND outreach to youth. Privately we have been told by politicians on both sides of the spectrum that Spiliotopoulos is considered a political lightweight. Nevertheless, there appears to be broad agreement that the situation cannot remain as it is. An MRB poll released on February 9th showed that 85 percent of Greek respondents believe there must be changes to the secondary education system, and another 75.9 percent supported changes in the university entrance exam system. "Clean Slate Dialogue" -------------- ¶15. (C) Spiliotopoulos' first announcement as Minister of Education was that the government is launching a new dialogue with a "clean sate." The dialogue starts from square one fo the restructuring of secondary education and th university entry system. Since his entry on the job, Spiliotopoulos has created a high-level cross-party parliamentary Council on Primary and Secondary Education. This council, which is charged with improving the university entrance system, is chaired by well-respected, former University of Athens rector Professor George Babiniotis. However, its function overlaps with the portfolio of the National Council of Education, created by the former Minister of Education and headed by the equally-respected Thanos Veremis. Already there has been conflict between the chairmen of the two councils over who takes the lead in the education reform dialogue. ¶16. (C) Veremis recently threatened he will leave his post if the government is not serious about reforms, adding "they may be playing for time." Veremis has proposed incorporating public (free) frontistiria into high school and reducing the number of classes taught from 12 to 6, so they can be covered in more depth. Proposals by Babiniotis, with which Veremis disagrees, would be to eliminate university exams altogether and allow students to enter university based on their grades in the final year of high school. Universities would then evaluate a student after the first year in university. Critics of both argue that this "top-down" approach to reform is backward; that the educational system is fundamentally flawed and requires a serious revamping from the bottom up, starting with primary school. The president of OLME, Kostas Maniatis, insists that the main problem with the Greek secondary school system is not structural, but financial and that the state should provide more funds instead of reopening dialogue on reform. And as far as U.S.-affiliated institutions are concerned, for the time being, Spiliotopoulos has put the issue of accreditation of private institutions on hold. Comment -------------- ¶17. (C) Whatever steps the new Minister of Education takes in the coming months, ND is still trying to recover from the aftermath of the December demonstrations and a resulting drop in the polls that has put opposition PASOK ahead by at least three percentage points. While Spiliotopoulos may be charismatic, his relative lack of experience may be a hindrance. There is a widespread impression that the selection of Spiliotopoulos as Minister of Education is an indication that Karamanlis is not interested in real educational reform but rather in keeping up appearances until general elections. Spiliotopoulos' education reform gurus are already feuding, and the teachers' union doesn't want to talk about reform. The fact that the focus of discussions so far is on entrance to universities rather than on the real overhaul needed in secondary education and on a move at all levels from rote learning to critical thinking indicates that the government may miss yet another opportunity for real educational reform. SPECKHARD