“The operating criteria of the Non-Government-Non-Profit universities, which will be established as branches of large and renowned institutions abroad in cooperation with the Greek public universities, will be the strictest in Europe. I invite everyone to examine and compare the respective criteria of other countries and they will find out for themselves what is true” said the Minister of Education, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, speaking to ANT1, referring to the new bill which is already characterized as a “historic reform” and appears to have conquered the majority of Greek society.

Mr. Pierrakakis noted as reasons for this development “the fact that we are the only country in the world where this order of things does not apply in Higher Education, the prospect of reversing the brain drain both educationally and financially and the huge opportunity to become Greece a regional educational center, like Cyprus, with huge benefits for education, social mobility and the economy”.

The Minister of Education insisted on the priority of the public university in the government’s logic and clarified: “You will see from the body of the bill as soon as it is put to public consultation that most of it concerns public institutions, because that is where we mainly put our weight, both in terms of funding as well as the institutional modifications that are necessary for the university self-government to function in the modern era.

We subsidize the public HEIs with over one billion euros – I would say a second budget – and at the same time we solve all the institutional misspellings that keep them captive, because we want a free public university, as he mentioned at the Rectors’ Summit last week. We want the public university free from the bureaucracy that keeps it captive and at the same time we seek its internationalization through a series of partnerships”.

For Mr. Pierrakakis, the possibility of foreign universities to establish postgraduate or undergraduate study departments in Greece is a “social request after years of isolation” and at the same time “will be linked to the strictest conditions for their establishment and operation with a supervisory authority the independent Authority for Public Education, which will have the possibility to set terms and conditions of establishment and operation increased in relation to those adopted by the corresponding Authority of the country of origin of the foreign institution. After all, one should not forget that the foreign universities that will express an interest in cooperating with public Greek universities play their undeniable prestige in this cooperation”.

“With at least three schools and 30 professors with doctorates and publications, as well as the corresponding basic building infrastructure – a foreign university cannot be housed on one floor – we create the strictest framework for the operation of these Non-State-Non-Profit Universities and at the level infrastructure”, added the minister.

To illustrate the importance of this reform, Mr. Pierrakakis referred to a 2010 New York Times article by Friedman, in which the famous scientist argued, amid memos about Greece, “don’t pay so much attention to spreads and similar measurements. Look at what the young people are doing in Greece. If they leave abroad en masse, sell Greek bonds, but if they stay in the country or return, then buy Greek bonds.”

Regarding any constitutional objections that may be filed, the minister argued: “We are making a safe and considered move. Almost all constitutionalists have already expressed themselves positively, some expressed the opinion that we could go even further. The constitutionality of changes that have already been made, such as postgraduate programs and Open Universities, which already operate for a fee, has already been judged. In any case, we are optimistic about the constitutionality of the reform and insist on a dynamic interpretation of the Constitution, as it happens in a number of other cases”.

Mr. Pierrakakis ruled out any possibility of schools of lower expectations emerging from this reform and explained that “this is impossible to do due to the establishment and operation criteria that will be approved”. He also formulated the question “why can’t Greece become a world center for philosophy or mathematics studies”, insisting that “it is not possible to constantly fight rear-guard battles, as is the case with the opposition, this must end”.

Finally, regarding the objections expressed by various sides, the minister pointed out that “the discussion that needs to be held is not whether we will do it or not, but how we will do it. Look at what happened in Cyprus, where all parties, including AKEL, supported the initiative. We will invite everyone to support this initiative and we estimate that constructive compositions will emerge, after all, this reform is a social demand”.

“Yale will be able to come to Greece to collaborate with a public institution and establish its branch, let that be clear” concluded Mr. Pierrakakis.