For the first quarter of 2024, the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, chronologically the institutionalization of “the great reform in the public school”, from which “the governance of school education” cannot be missing, that is, the way in which this whole system is managed and interoperates. From the floor of the 34th Annual Greek Economic Synod (GES2023) organized by the Hellenic-American Chamber in a central hotel in Athens, the minister added:

“All courses need to come in 2023/2024 with rapid steps and stop the way they are currently taught. The example of literature is typical: we are still taught excerpts from literary works and not, as is the case throughout the rest of the world, a literary work from beginning to end. The correct way is to teach a whole book, and this will now be done with all the analytical dynamics needed. We need to acquire the culture of the book, starting and ending with the analysis of the elements of a book, forming total readers who will go to the bookstore to buy a book. And all this needs to be on paper and not on a tablet. The feeling of the book on paper is very important,” he added.

In the same paradigmatic reference he also included informatics, clearly separating the way it is taught in schools today from the real needs of teaching in a rapidly changing world.

“The new school needs to obey a triangle: Algorithmic (and not just mathematical) thinking, literature, i.e. imagination and soft skills and volunteering in the sense of society, group, belonging, that the student cares about what is happening around him and include him.

This triangle will characterize the new school with a mission to make happy children and refuse the hyper-competition that leads nowhere. That’s where we want to go, that’s the goal,” explained Mr. Pierrakakis.

The minister agreed that volunteering in Greece is at a low level and proposed the school reforms as determining a new civic culture in this matter as well.

Determining the developments in education in time, Mr. Pierrakakis stated that “school changes are the third area of ​​reforms in terms of time, preceded by vocational education and non-state universities”.

On the subject of professional education, he argued, referring to El. Venizelos who first formulated it, that it is an “indicator of the progress of a country” and presented the road map of the changes that will take place and include 60 complexes throughout the country with 130 new specialties, which will be in direct contact both with the local needs of production, as well as with the needs of businesses in general.

He characteristically stated that “in Tripoli the new professional KEEK should be connected to wine and in Perama to the needs of the specialties of the shipbuilding and repair zone. In this way, professional education will acquire new content and become attractive, connected to the needs of the economy and providing executives in professions in demand”.

Regarding the non-state HEIs and the bill that is so anxiously awaited until the end of December, as has been announced, Mr. Pierrakakis emphasized:

“University wise we are a brother nation from a constitutional provision that has its beginnings in the 1968 Constitution, in the junta and which the 1975 Constitution simply reaffirmed. We raised walls all around us out of an incomprehensible fear. At the same time, Cyprus with a bold decision proceeded with the important changes in the institutional field and already counts in its GDP the huge participation of foreign students, being a regional educational center. That is where we must go and we will go in the beginning with synergies with foreign universities, it cannot be done otherwise.

With the flagship public university we need to reverse the flow of our students abroad for reasons of educational need, as they cannot study the subject they want here and free the public university from state bureaucracy. We must finally break these shackles and abolish the state monopoly. After all, this is also the mandate of the Greek people in the 2023 elections, and we will implement it.”

Regarding the need for higher education to produce a greater number of “computer scientists”, Mr. Pierrakakis said:

“Three things need to happen at the same time. To increase the output from HEIs even by establishing new faculties if necessary, but this is a measure with late effect, it takes time to bear fruit. To introduce informatics on a permanent basis in school (High School and High School), thus facilitating algorithmic thinking and reading codes. To move on to an upskilling program at older ages and people who have the basis to respond, like a physics teacher or a chemist.

A scientist of these specialties can easily with a modern upskilling program learn to read codes and be immediately useful. With such a program throughout the country, it is possible to have a quick and substantial production of young scientists, which our economy needs so much, if you consider that the annual demand is for 16,000 IT graduates and the universities currently offer about 8,000″.

Finally, referring to the need for more women to participate in computer science, he pointed out: “It is an issue that was also discussed by the Council in Brussels some time ago. I must point out that Greece is in a better position in this matter than many other countries, it is above average. To achieve the goal we need to change the standards and invest in the power of the message from similar cases, because the standard in these matters is very strong.”

Finally, Mr. Pierrakakis stated that in consultation with the OECD, a road map for the changes required will be created for Greek education, which will include the changes proposed by the OECD, but also those that Greek society is looking forward to “so that let’s see what we’ve already done and where we need to go to keep up with the rest of the world.”