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  • How Greek Universities Stay That Way

    By UD June 9, 2007 5:46 am

    Europe's worst university system -- and that's saying a lot -- has done it again. Ten senior academics at Panteion University in Athens have stolen almost eight million dollars in state funds over the last five years or so. They bought luxury goods with the money, which was intended to support academic programs at Panteion.

    What's striking about the coverage from Greece is that the harshness of the verdicts, rather than the enormity of the crime, has shocked people.

    Well, of course faculty and staff embezzle state university funds, nothing new there... But actually to be caught... and sentenced!

    Aside from the shabby incompetence of the Greek university system generally, the thieves had going for them the fact that they ran the place: Among the convicted were Panteion's rector, vice-rector, and chief accountant.

    With his cut, the accountant bought a Ferrari.

    Greece's intrepid education minister has tried and tried and tried to bring a bit of intellectual respectability to her country's pathetic higher education establishment. She attempted to introduce competition in the form of private universities. But while it's apparently been okay for years to steal large sums from public universities, it remains illegal to open private ones. Her efforts - and the efforts of the legislature - in the direction of university reform produced, a few months ago, riots so violent that the government backed down. Now all the world hears about Greek universities -- Greek universities! Once the glory of the civilized world! -- is police blotter stuff.

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Comments on How Greek Universities Stay That Way

  • "How Greek Universities stay that way"
  • Posted by GT on August 31, 2008 at 10:40pm EDT

  • One of the most ridiculous articles I have read on higher education in a long time! Since it is really dated I shall not bother to expose the patently absurd character of the claims made in it except to say that the introduction of competition and private universities which that article advocates would render the Greek Universities - formally still the property of the tax-paying Greek people, despite deficiencies - an aspect of the corporate sector, conducting research which advances corporate superprofit instead of science and of the interests of the people and with personnel consisting of hired employees in the service of the corporations instead of real, independent scientists. In short, it would reduce the Greek Universities to the pathetic higher education system which exists in the USA, EU and Australia where the majority of the people does not have any access to quality education and only a small minority can financially afford the "cost effective" education which will render them the highly-paid professional servants of the corporations.

    As to the claim that "it is okay in Greece to steal large sums of money from public universities" I guess the author confused Greece with his own country.

    The Greek Universities were, indeed, the glory of the civilised world once! I guess that is because Pythagoras or Heraclitus never had to compete for funds from Lockheed Martin...

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