EDUC 499: Greece - Summer 2019’s Updates

Greek Financial Crisis & Education

Unfortunately, Greece’s economic situation has made its mark on every aspect of Greek society, and therefore, education could not be an exception to the rule. According to the published data on the 2014 budget, funding for the Ministry of Education for the coming year stands at a total of 4.587.329.000 Euros, which is down by 8.1% and corresponds to a net reduction of 400 million Euros. The main obstacles that Greek universities and schools face are that there is significant reductions in funding that affect university research, graduate stipends, investments and infrastructures. The prolonged crisis compounds these effects limiting graduate funding and research, and stifling investments Reductions in administrative staff make the running of universities even more taxing. The economic crisis can lead to less time for academic collaboration and research. Recently, staff and faculty at the University of Athens were unable to offer classes because of prolonged strikes. There is now a lack of standardization of best practices, which can lead to making Greece a lagging competitor in FT foreign faculty. People are unable to get the education that they need in order to get a higer education and a well-off job. From a social point of view, the crisis could lead to expenditure cuts as incomes fall and domestic fiscal revenues drop sharply. The impact of rising unemployment is already registering on educational systems as household budgets come under pressure.

  • Kiley Isaacson