Education in Greece

Minister Nikos Filis

Budget 12,08 billion € (public)

4% of GDP1

Primary languages Greek

Total 98%

Male 99%

Female 97%

Total 1,426,175

Primary 786,025 2

Secondary 360,248 3

Post secondary 276,902 4

The Greek educational system is mainly divided into three levels: primary,
secondary and tertiary, with an additional post-secondary level providing vocational
training. Primary education is divided into kindergarten lasting one or two years,
and primary school spanning six years (ages 6 to 12). Secondary education
comprises two stages: Gymnasio (variously translated as Middle or Junior High
School), a three-year school, after which students can attendLykeion (an
academically oriented high school) or Vocational training. Higher Tertiary education
is provided by Universities and Polytechnics, Technological Educational Institutes
(T.E.I., 1983 ~ present) andAcademies which primarily cater for the military and the
clergy. Undergraduate courses typically last 4 years (5 in polytechnics and some
technical/art schools, and 6 in medical schools),postgraduate (MSc level) courses
last from 1 to 2 years and doctorates (PhD level) from 3 to 6 years.

All levels are overseen by the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious
Affairs. The Ministry exercises centralized control over state schools, by prescribing
the curriculum, appointing staff and controlling funding. Private schools also fall
under the mandate of the Ministry, which exercises supervisory control over them.
At a regional level, the supervisory role of the Ministry is exercised through
Regional Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education, and Directorates of
Primary and Secondary Education operate in every Prefecture. Tertiary institutions
are nominally autonomous, but the Ministry is responsible for their funding, and the
distribution of students to undergraduate courses. Currently the Greek government
only recognises the degree programmes offered by the state-run universities
although there are several private universities and colleges offering degree
programmes that are validated and overseen by American, British and other
European universities. The Greek government is pressured to recognise these
overseas programmes.

All levels of education are catered for by both private and public schools. State-run
schools and universities do not charge tuition fees and textbooks are provided free
to all students, although, from 2011 onwards, there has been a noticeable shortage
of new textbooks, forcing students to either buy stock books from bookshops, or
participate in parent-teacher association-run book trades. There are also a number
of private tutorial schools, colleges and universities operating alongside the state
education and providing supplementary tuition. These parallel schools
(Greek:φροντιστήριο, frontistirio (singular)) provide foreign language tuition,
supplementary lessons for weak students as well as exam preparation courses for
the competitivePanhellenic national examinations. Most of the students typically
attend such classes (and examinations) at the tutors schools in the afternoon and
evening in addition to their normal schooling.

The Greek education system has been criticised over the years by Greek people
for various issues, like difficulty levels of the exams during Panhellenic
Examinations, number of teaching hours in schools etc.
 Primary education

Elementary schools are called "Dimotiko" (demotic, meaning municipal), a

carryover term from a time when such schools were run by local communities. The
name remains although it has been obsolete for decades. In the first two years
pupils are not officially graded, and parents obtain feedback about their
performance via oral communications with teachers. Grading begins in Year 3, and
written exams are introduced in Year 5. Graduating from one year to the next is
automatic, and pupils with deficient performance are given remedial tutoring. Years
are called "classes", from first to sixth:

 Year 1 (Πρώτη δημοτικού): age 6 to 7

 Year 2 (Δευτέρα δημοτικού): age 7 to 8

 Year 3 (Τρίτη δημοτικού): age 8 to 9

 Year 4 (Τετάρτη δημοτικού): age 9 to 10

 Year 5 (Πέμπτη δημοτικού): age 10 to 11

 Year 6 (Έκτη δημοτικού): age 11 to 12

A normal school-day starts at 8.15 and finishes from 14.00 to 16.15 depending on
the school. The classes last between 40 and 90 minutes. The school year always
starts on September 11 and ends on June 15. The students have summer vacation
(about 3 months), Christmas vacation (2 weeks) and Easter vacation (2 weeks).
Furthermore, students take usually another four days off in order to celebrate their
two national holidays (28/10 and 25/3).

Basic subjects:

 Modern Greek Language (7 classes/week)

 Mathematics (5 classes/week)

 Environmental Studies (2–4 classes/week)

 Physical Education (4 classes/week)

  Music (1 class/week)

 Art (1 class/week)

 Theatre (1 class/week)

 Flexible Zone (1–2 classes/week)

 English (2–4 classes/week)

(The classes a week for a subject may vary from the teacher who teaches)

Additional Subjects:

 Physics (3 classes/week and only for years 5 and 6)

 Geography (2 classes/week and only for years 5 and 6)

 History (2 classes/week and for years 3-6)

 Religion (1 class/week and for years 3-6)

 Social & Political Studies (1 class/week and only for years 5 and 6)

 Second Foreign Language (2 classes/week and only for years 5 and 6)

Grading System:

 1st Year: no grades

 2nd Year: no grades

 3rd Year: A-C

 4th Year: A-C

 5th Year: 1-10

 6th Year: 1-10

Enrollment to the next tier of compulsory education, the Gymnasium, is automatic.

 Secondary education

Γυμνάσιο (Gymnasium - Middle School) (compulsory education)

 Πρώτη Γυμνασίου / 1st grade, age 12 to 13

 Δευτέρα Γυμνασίου / 2nd grade, age 13 to 14

 Τρίτη Γυμνασίου / 3rd grade, age 14 to 15

Starts on September 11 and ends on June 15 to 18. The lessons end in the second
week of May so that the students will be able to study for their examinations
between May and June. The classes start at 8.15 and end from 13.45 to 14.15
according to the type of school. Classes last from 30 min. to 45 min. and there are
breaks of 10 and 5 minutes between them. There were 6 types of gymnasiums in
Greece:

1. General Gymnasium (entering there from the primary school is automatic)

2. Athletic Gymnasium (to enter this type of school students must pass certain exams on a
sport like football, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, polo, swimming etc.)

3. Musical Gymnasium (to enter this type of school students must pass certain exams on a
musical instrument)

4. Art Gymnasium (to enter this type of school students must pass certain exams on either
arts, dance, or theater)

5. Experimental Gymnasium (to enter this type of schools students must pass certain exams
on Maths, Science, Reading Comprehension and Writing [the last two are written as one])

6. Church Gymnasium

Today Athletic Gymnasiums don't exist.

The subjects for:

1. Πρώτη Γυμνασίου/1st Grade of Gymnasium (The curriculum is based on the

2013 curriculum, for the school season 2014-2015):
  Modern Greek language (2 classes/week)

 Modern Greek literature (2 classes/week)

 Ancient Greek language (3 classes/week)

 Ancient Greek Literature (2 classes/week)

 Mathematics (4 classes/week) (Algebra 2 classes/week and Geometry 2 classes/week)

 Physics (1 class/week)

 Biology (2 classes/week)

 Geography (2 classes/week)

 History (2 classes/week)

 Religion (2 classes/week)

 English language (2 classes/week)

 2nd foreign language (usually French or German) (2 classes/week)

 Technology (1 class/week)

 Computer studies (1 class/week)

 Music (1 class/week)

 Art (1 class/week)

 Physical education (2 classes/week)

 Home economics (2 classes/week)

 Project (1 class/week)

2. Δευτέρα Γυμνασίου/2nd Grade of Gymnasium (The curriculum is based on the

2013 curriculum, for the school season 2014-2015):

 Modern Greek Language (2 hours/week)

 Modern Greek Literature (2 hours/week)

 Ancient Greek Language (3 hours/week)

  Ancient Greek Literature (2 hours/week)

 Mathematics (4 hours/week)

 Physics (2 hours/week)

 Chemistry (1 hour/week)

 Biology (1 hour/week)

 Geography (2 hours/week)

 History (2 hours/week)

 Religion Education (2 hours/week)

 English Language (2 hours/week)

 2nd Foreign Language: French or German (2 hours/week)

 Technology (1 hour/week)

 Computer Studies (1 hour/week)

 Music (1 hour/week)

 Art (1 hour/week)

 Physical Education (2 hours/week)

 Home Economics (1 hour/week)

 Project (1 hour/week)

3. Τρίτη Γυμνασίου/3rd Grade of Gymnasium (The curriculum is based on the 2013

curriculum, for the school season 2015-2016):

 Religion Education (2 hours/week)

 Ancient Greek Literature (2 hours/week)

 Ancient Greek Language (3 hours/week)

 Modern Greek Language (2 hours/week)

 Modern Greek Literature (2 hours/week)

  History (2 hours/week)

 Social & Political Studies (2 hours/week)

 English Language (2 hours/week)

 2nd Foreign Language: French or German (2 hours/week)

 Mathematics (4 hours/week)

 Physics (2 hours/week)

 Chemistry (1 hour/week)

 Biology (1 hours/week)

 Physical Education (2 hours/week)

 Music (1 hour/week)

 Art (1 hour/week)

 Computer Studies (1 hour/week)

 Technology (1 hour/week)

 Project (2 hours/week)

Γενικό Λύκειο (General Lyceum - High School)

 Πρώτη Λυκείου / 1st grade, age 15 to 16

 Δευτέρα Λυκείου / 2nd grade, age 16 to 17

 Τρίτη Λυκείου / 3rd grade, age 17 to 18

On September 2013, the Minister of Education, Lifelong learning and Religious

affairs Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos officially announced the historic recreation of
the General Lyceum. On September 12, 2013 the new system was introduced to
the new students of the 1st grade of General Lyceum.

The subjects for:

 1. Πρώτη Γενικού Λυκείου/1st Grade of General Lyceum (The curriculum is based
on the 2013 curriculum, for the school season 2014-2015):

 Subjects of General Education

Ancient Greek (5 hours/week)

Modern Greek Language (2 hours/week)
Modern Greek Literature (2 hours/week)
Algebra (3 hours/week)
Geometry (2 hours/week)
Physics (2 hours/week)
Chemistry (2 hours/week)
Biology (2 hours/week)
History (2 hours/week)
Political Studies (3 hours/week)
Religion Education (2 hours/week)
Project (2 hours/week)
Foreign Language: English or French or German (2 hours/week)
Physical Education (2 hours/week)

 Subjects of selection

Applications of Computer Science (2 hours/week)

Geology and Management of Natural Resources (2 hours/week)
Greek and European Culture (2 hours/week)
Art Education (2 hours/week)

2. Δευτέρα Γενικού Λυκείου/2nd Grade of General Lyceum (The curriculum is

based on the 2013 curriculum, for the school season 2014-2015):

 Subjects of General Education

 Ancient Greek (2 hour/week)
Modern Greek Language (2 hours/week)
Modern Greek Literature (2 hours/week)
Algebra (3 hours/week)
Geometry (2 hours/week)
Physics (2 hours/week)
Chemistry (2 hours/week)
Biology (2 hours/week)
Introduction to the Principles of Science of Computers (1 hour/week)
History (2 hours/week)
Philosophy (2 hours/week)
Political Education (2 hours/week)
Religious Education (2 hours/week)
Project (1 hour/week)
Foreign Language: English or French or German (2 hours/week)
Physical Education (1 hour/week)

The students can choose 1 of the 2 Orientation Groups: the Humanities or the
Sciences

 Subjects of the Humanities Orientation Group

Ancient Greek Language and Literature (3 hours/week)

Basic Principles of Social Science (2 hours/week)

 Subjects of the Sciences Orientation Group

Physics (3 hours/week)
Mathematics (2 hours/week)
 3. Τρίτη Γενικού Λυκείου/3rd Grade of General Lyceum (The curriculum is based on
the 2015 curriculum, for the school season 2015-2016):

 Subjects of General Education

Religion Education (1 hour/week)

Foreign Language: English or French or German (2 hours/week)
Physical Education (2 hours/week)
History (2 hours/week)
Greek Language (2 hours/week)
Greek Literature (1 hour/week)
Biology (2 hours/week)
Mathematics and Statistics (2 hours/week)
History of Social Sciences (1 hour/week)

 Subjects for selection

2nd Foreign Language

Drawing(free or linear)
History of Art
Business Management and Organization
(all 2 hours/week)

The students can choose 1 of the 3 Orientation Groups: the Humanities, the
Economical and Computer Studies and the Science Studies.

Humanities:
Ancient Greek Language (5 hours/week)
Latin (3 hours/week)
History (3 hours/week)
Literature( 2 hours/week)
Sociology ( 2 hours/week)
Economical and Computer Sciences
Mathematics (5 hours/week)
Economy (3 hours/week)
Computers (2 hours/week)
History (3 hours/week)
Sociology (2 hours/week)
Science Studies :
Mathematics (5 hours/week)
Biology (2 hours/week)
Physics (3 hours/week)
Chemistry (3 hours/week)
•Panhellenic national examinations:

As mentioned above,the students must take the Panhellenic national Examinations

to procceed to the Higher Tertiary education.These exams are held after the
students have received their Apolytirion (the main school-leaving certificate for
secondary education).The students pass into a specific Higher Educational Institute
based on the Orientation and Group chosen.

Private schools

There is a wide range of private schools in Greece. 6% of students who attend

compulsory education (the highest percent in the European Union) study in Private
Schools. Tuition fees start from €1,500 to €13,000 according to the school and the
year.

School elections

From the fifth year of the primary school to the third year of Lyceum elections are
held.

Elections in primary schools

 They are held every September. All the students are obliged to elect 2 presidiums
for each class who "rule" until January when the other one succeeds the first. The
role of these presidiums is to primp the classrooms for the national holidays and for
Christmas. Furthermore, they transfer the complaints of each student to the school
authorities.

There are 4 positions:

 The President

 The Vice-President

 The General Secretary

 The Treasurer

Elections in Gymnasiums and Lyceums

They are held every September and are divided into 2 parts.

In the 1st part every student elects the Presidium of his/her class.

The Class Presidium has 5 members:

 The President

 The General Secretary

 The Treasurer

 The 1st Member

 The 2nd Member

In the second part students elect a School Council which has 15 members and
represents the students. Its role is extremely important in every school because the
School Council takes significant decisions for all the students.

The School Council has 15 members:

 The School President

  The Vice-President

 The Treasurer

 Another 12 Members

Tertiary education in Greece

 Ανώτατα Εκπαιδευτικά Ιδρύματα - Α.E.I.(Higher Educational Institutes)

Higher Educational Institutes are consisted of two parallel sectors: the Universities
and the Technological Educational Institutes (T.E.I.). In addition, colleges
collaborating with foreign universities can offer undergraduate and postgraduate
UK foreign programmes of study in Greece, under the proper registration with the
Greek Ministry of Education. Usually, these programmes are provided following
franchise or validation agreements with universities established in other European
Union countries, primarily in the UK, leading to degrees which are awarded directly
by those universities. In some cases these institutions are wholly owned and
operated branch campuses of foreign institutions, as in the case of theUniversity of
Indianapolis, Athens Campus.List of universities in Greece

According to the European University Association, austerity measures imposed

after the 2010 bailout halved public funding for higher education in real
terms between 2009 and 2014; Greece now spends an average of €545 per
student.[1] Spending cuts were such that eight Greek universities, including
the University of Athens, had to close down temporarily in fall 2013 because they
lacked the staff to keep the university running.[2]

Private education

 There are public and private dimotika(primary education), gymnasia (middle school;
secondary education), lykeia (high school; secondary education). Some of them are for
foreigners, usually children of British or American families. For example, see American
Community Schools.

 Public and private IEK

 According to the article 16 of the Greek constitution, private tertiary education was not
allowed in Greece. However, there were some Laboratories of Free Studies (Ergastiria
Eleutheron Spoudon), often franchises of foreign universities, sometimes non-profit
organizations, which advertised themselves as private universities or as centers from
public universities abroad. For example, see DEI College/University of London International
Programmes and UCLan, I.S.T. College/University of Hertfordshire, New York College
(European and American Education), BCA Business College of Athens,ALBA Graduate
Business School, University of Wales, Bangor, Mediterranean College,Deree
College, Athens Information Technology Center of Excellence for Research and
Education etc.

 Following changes in the Greek legislation, in 2008 and 2010, private organisations,
referred to as colleges, have been authorised to offer foreign undergraduate and
postgraduate programmes under the monitoring of the Greek Ministry of Education, for
example iCon College.[citation needed]

All levels are overseen by the Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs,
which exercises centralised control over public schools, by prescribing the
curriculum, appointing staff, and controlling funding. The ministry exercises a
supervisory mandate over private schools. At a regional level, the supervisory role
of the Ministry is exercised through Regional Directorates of Primary and
Secondary Education, and Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education
operate in every Prefecture. Tertiary institutions are nominally autonomous, but the
Ministry is responsible for their funding, and the distribution of students to
undergraduate courses. Currently the Greek government only recognises degree
programmes offered by the state-run universities although there are several private
universities and colleges offering degree programmes that are validated and
overseen by American, British and other European universities. The Greek
government is pressured to recognise these overseas programmes.

All levels of education are catered for by both private and public schools. State-run
schools and universities do not charge tuition fees and textbooks are provided free
to all students, although, from 2011 onwards, there has been noticed a shortage in
 new textbooks, forcing students to either buy stock books from bookshops, or
participate in parent-teacher association-run book trades.

There are also a number of private tutors schools, colleges and universities
operating alongside the state education and providing supplementary tuition. These
parallel schools, called Frontistirio (Greek: φροντιστήριο) provide foreign-language
tuition, supplementary lessons for weak students, as well as exam preparation for
the competitive Panhellenic national examinations. Most of the students typically
attend such classes (and examinations) at the tutors schools in the afternoon and
evening in addition to their normal schooling.

Vocational education and training

 I.E.K. - Ινστιτούτο Επαγγελματικής Κατάρτισης (Institouto Epagelmatikis Katartisis -

Vocational Training Institute).O.E.E.K. is the government organization which oversees
these institutes.

 Private EES schools often offer seminars and 1-year vocational programmes, usually for
Computing or Business studies. Young Greeks can seek private vocational education using
the computer softwareproducts Eurofasma and Kefaleo (Capital).

Obsolete institutions

 Τεχνικό Επαγγελματικό Εκπαιδευτήριο, ΤΕΕ (Techniko Epagelmatiko Ekpedeftirio -

Technical Professional/Vocational School, TEE)

 Τεχνικό Επαγγελματικό Λύκειο, ΤΕΛ(Techniko Epagelmatiko Lykeio - Technical

Professional/Vocational Lyceum, TEL)

 Τεχνική Επαγγελματική Σχολή, ΤΕΣ(Techniki Epagelmatiki Scholi - Technical

Professional/Vocational School, TES)

 Ενιαίο Πολυκλαδικό Λύκειο, ΕΠΛ (Eniaio Polykladiko Lykeio - Unified Multidisciplinary

Lyceum, EPL)
Current issues

The foremost topic of debate in recent years has been recognition of the private
universities, which are forbidden by the 1975 constitution. Numerous private
institutions, which are often franchises of European and American universities,
such as State University of New York, but also non-profit accredited institutions or
wholly owned and operated branch campuses of foreign universities, such as
the University of Indianapolis - Athens Campus, are operating legally as EES
schools (translatable as "Laboratories of Free Study").

Moreover, with few exceptions, the Greek government refuses to recognize three-
year university degrees. Students who completed a bachelor's degree in a foreign
country find it difficult to secure employment in the public sector, unless they next
obtain a master's degree, in which case their academic qualifications are
considered equivalent to a four-year undergraduate degree conferred by a Greek
higher educational institute.

Following pressure from the EU member states, within the framework of

the Bologna Process, Greece is revising its classification of degrees to bring it in
line with the framework defined in the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation
System/ECTS. (It is usually the goal to accomplish a bachelor's degree within 3
years and a master's degree within 2 years.)

Criticism

There can be heard and seen lots of facts that show people's disappointment by
the Greek Education System.

Many students and parents claim that Greek schools' role was not to improve their
knowledge and abilities.

In Greece, students often have lodged complaints about the teaching and grading
system of their teachers. There are heard occasions, for example, of teachers who
give lower/higher marks to a student than they should have, based on their
personal effort and achievements at the lesson. The Education System is believed
to follow a too 'democratic' view on such incidents, ignoring such issues.

Another important issue which is causing disturbance in many Greek families is the
existence of paid private classes namedfrontistiria (φροντιστήρια) whose
attendance by the Greek students has become a necessity in order for them to be
able to achieve high grades and succeed in their exams. This is a phenomenon
noticed especially as the student approaches the 3rd grade of upper high school
because of the high difficulty of the Panhellenic Examinations. It has been an object
of criticism due to the high fees that most Greek families are called to pay, thus
deviating from the concept of a free and accessible education for
everyone.[3]Furthermore, in 2012 the Greek government introduced a regulation that
changed the regime which the selection of the students who wished to be
registered in the Experimental Schools was done with. Before 2012, those students
were picked from a lottery, whereas the regulation established a system of
entrance exams for Experimental Schools which occurred in the 1st grade of lower
and upper high school that the students had to pass in order to be selected. This
incident reinforced the presence offrontistiria, as some parents started sending their
children there, even while at primary-age, so as to prepare them for the entrance
exams. The regulation also renamed the Experimental Schools to Exemplar
Experimental Schools.

In addition, there have been repeatedly heard protests about the Panhellenic
Examinations, such as:

'A little number of examining tests will judge the students' rest of life
(in their 3rd grade education).'
'Modern Greek lesson's grading system is subjective and students may get
different mark than they should.'
'Exams are often made each year harder than those of the previous year.'