July 7, 2010

"Greece Unbound"

A short, interesting opinion piece by Alexis Papachelasat Kathimerini with an insight into the dilemma for Greece in the area of neighborly relations with the FYROM (i.e., Republic of Macedonia, a country of 9800 sq miles and about 2 million people) and the even more problematic issue of producing quality education facilities in Greece when the field is dominated by teacher unions that will not yield to improvements.

"A recent visit to a graduation ceremony at an American college in Thessaloniki gave me an unexpected insight into Greece’s mistakes and missed opportunities over the past 20 years.

The college is a serious nonprofit venture in the field of education and one of the few to have survived and prospered despite the obstacles. It bears no comparison to the dozens of other quasi-official colleges that have emerged in Greece without any substantial control. Interestingly, the top prize went to a student from Skopje. He spoke broken Greek and fluent English, explaining how he loves Greece and how the country offered him a unique opportunity to excel. Some professors recalled the difficulties that the first students from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) had to overcome when they arrived here. Their parents would often find their cars vandalized.

...I cannot help but think that George Papandreou made a big mistake in undermining the change of Article 16 in the Constitution which would have opened the door for the establishment of private, nonprofit universities. The prime minister yielded to vested interests when he could have given the green light to innovative research centers such as those found in Turkey and Cyprus."

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