Brain drain sets in as thousands of Greeks study abroad

More and more Greeks are moving to Germany to complete their university studies in the hope of improving their chances in the job market. Radical cuts continue to threaten the quality of teaching in Greece, writes Lisa Brüßler for DeutscheWelle.

In Germany alone, between 2012 and 2013, the number of Greek students rose by 13%. In 2012, Germany's Federal Statistical Office counted almost 6,000 Greek students, of whom more than 1,100 had directly begun their studies in Germany.

According to Eurostat, the unemployment rate in Greece currently stands at 27%. "For the past four to five years, young Greeks have been studying abroad earlier and earlier, in the hope that they'll find work faster and easier afterwards. My children are also in Germany," said sociology professor Skevos Papaioannou.

The former dean of the Department for Social Sciences at the University of Crete retired, somewhat reluctantly, in September. "My position hasn't been advertised and there isn't a substitute. For years we've had problems as a result of staff redundancies and the burden of the high overheads."
Full report on the DeutscheWelle site