Students protest government plan for private universities

Thousands of Greek students rallied in Athens and other cities on Thursday 11 January to protest against planned education reforms that would allow the introduction of private universities in the country, write Renee Maltezou and Louisa Gouliamaki for Reuters.

The conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who won a second term last year, is expected to submit a bill to parliament this month that would permit private universities to operate inside Greece. The government has said they will operate as branches of foreign universities. Many believe the move will devalue degrees from Greece’s public universities and that the private system will exclude those who cannot afford it.

The change will “tear apart the public university as we knew it”, said student Christina Iliopoulou who joined the protest in Athens. “It will destroy our daily life in terms of how we will be able to find a job after we graduate.”
Full report on the Reuters site