A few days ago, KEFiM and Papadopoulos Publishing presented their new publishing success entitled The Profit Motive in Education – a very interesting and up-to-date collection of articles originally published by the iconic British think tank Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) with its main subject being the positive contribution of the private, not necessarily non-profit, initiative in education.

 On this occasion, we remember Nikos Rompapas’ article in the ever-welcoming liberal.gr entitled The Profit Motive in Education – A taboo issue that must finally be discussed. Here is a small excerpt:

“Traditionally, Greeks pay special attention to education. We consider it a prerequisite for professional and social recognition and every Greek family invests a considerable amount of resources in educating their children. Unfortunately, our country’s ranking in this sector is disappointing. For example, in 2015 in OECD’s PISA competition, which involved 72 countries (35 OECD countries and 37 collaborators), Greek students brought our country to 43rd place in Mathematics and Science and 41st in Understanding Written Texts.

What is the reason for this unjustifiably disappointing result? In 2014 I had the opportunity to carry out a study in which I compared the Greek primary and secondary education system to that of other countries. The conclusion was clear: the Greek system is literally and example to avoid. All successful education systems are characterized by a high level of decentralization and independence of schools and more choices for parents and students. In Greece, on the contrary, everything is determined centrally: What are the lessons and how many hours of teaching. Which professor with teach in exactly what school. Which book will be used and exactly what chapters will be taught each year. Even the criteria for selecting the flag bearer in parades are determined centrally.

Anyone with children is well aware of the effects of this stifling state embrace. Parents are required to send their children to their neighborhood school. They cannot even send them to another school in their municipality. Exempt from this, of course, are those who have the financial capacity to send them to a private school and those who do not hesitate to declare a false home address. The Principals spend their energy on bureaucratic procedures rather than managing the school, and it is practically impossible to remove inappropriate teachers from the school even if we’re talking about extreme cases. Teachers are often forced to teach using photocopies, since several books are not suitable for their students.”