In an atmosphere of tension, the hearing of the bodies in the competent Committee of the Parliament was held on the bill that violates the Constitution in order to serve the aims of the “colonialist” fund, CVC, by establishing private Universities. The responsibility for the tense meeting rests solely with the president of the Commission, Christos Kellas, who tried to censor the president of ODPTE, Niki Chronopoulou, while mocking the official opposition for its electoral percentages.
The majority of the bodies that participated in the process criticized the provisions of the bill, judging it to be unconstitutional and deeply class-based. At the same time, the government’s reluctance to support public universities, as well as the uncontrollable operating regime of the colleges, emerged from the positions of the representatives of the institutions. On the other hand, employer bodies, such as SEV, or bodies that serve the free economy, such as the Central Union of Chambers of Greece, were openly in favor of the bill, speaking of attracting investments and new educational opportunities in our country.
“The priority is to strengthen the public University”
The dance of criticism against the bill was opened by the representative of the Technical Chamber of Greece, Toya Moropoulou, who pointed out that emphasis should be placed on strengthening public universities, while the other representative of the Chamber sounded the alarm about the quality of the studies provided in private universities. “Do we want engineers who don’t know earthquake regulations?” he wondered.
“Bypassing the Constitution”
The representative of the Panhellenic Federation of Teaching & Research Staff Associations, Mr. Seimenis, expressed the Federation’s objections to the circumvention of the Constitution, specifically Article 16, criticizing the operation of colleges that offer educational services without safeguards and criteria. “THE regulation of the operation of the colleges is not done even in this bill” he said and concluded by saying: “We will continue the fight to strengthen public universities for the benefit of students and society”.
“Nail” in Pierrakaki from ETHAAE
Also important were the comments of the president of the National Authority of Higher Education (ETHAAE), Periklis Mitkas, who essentially refuted the claims of the Minister of Education for strict supervision of private Universities, which, in fact, would be on a par with public Universities. Mr. Mitkas pointed out that the evaluation and certification of private HEIs by the parent Universities does not ensure good operating rules, adding that these responsibilities are a “national process”. In addition, he clarified that the bill does not specify which country’s courts (will resolve any disputes.
“Burlotto” from Verbeso
The president of the DSA, Dimitris Vervesos, described the bill as unconstitutional, calling on the government first to revise article 16 and then to make a legislative regulation. He criticized the hypocritical – as he called it – debate that preceded the bill and warned that the Universities of the region would be exterminated by professors and students.
“We completely reject the bill”
The clear opposition of ODPTE (Federation of Administrative Personnel of Tertiary Education) was expressed by the president, Niki Chronopoulou, who underlined that “we completely reject the bill”. Mrs. Chronopoulou spoke of a further reduction in the funding of HEIs, flexible labor relations and delivery of services to contractors, criticizing the fact that the majority did not want to invite students and administrative staff during the hearing of the institutions.
Attempted censorship and tension in the Commission
At that point the chairman of the Commission, Chr. Kellas, tried to censor Ms. Chronopoulou, asking her to stick to the bill. Then, Dionysis Kalamatianos and Metopi Tzoufis intervened, reminding Mr. Kella that after pressure from the opposition, the ND agreed to invite students and administrative staff. “You are putting pressure on us… You also have a lot of weight, and your percentage is also large” the president of the Commission replied ironically, triggering a new cycle of tension.
Then, the SYRIZA rapporteur together with Elena Akrita asked Mr. Kella to retract, with the latter insisting on his words. “We would call them, you didn’t pressure us,” argued Mr. Kellas, with Ms. Akrita warning that there would be a follow-up.
“Make injustice law”
The representatives of the Athens Medical Students’ Association, the only representatives of student associations who were invited to the Committee, in turn criticized the provisions of the bill. The vice-president of SFIA, Alexandros Theologos, noted that “with this bill, anyone who can pay 19,000 euros a year will become a doctor. You make injustice a law”, adding that “you brought MAT to the schools, you even called us robbers. You considered the strikes of the train drivers illegal and we had Tempi”.
“The students are warning you: you have already been defeated, we are on the opposite side” concluded Mr. Theologos, with the member of the Board of the Athens Medical School, Mr. Tsimitakis, clarifying that “we reject the bill” because “it bypasses the Constitution and article 16 ». “We are told about meritocracy by those who brought the EBE, which cuts 20,000 students per year and now gives universal access to private Universities with 9,000 points and a unique filter if he has a few thousand euros to study. That is, if you are a child of an average family, you will not be able to study…” he explained.
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