By Antonis Anzoletou

Any government that manages to successfully break the “Gordian link” of nationwide exams she will have managed to run for her “re-election for life”.

Abolishing university entrance exams is by no means a simple matter. If resolved, this means that the High School will be upgraded at the same time, and the higher institutions will also have the appropriate infrastructure to welcome a larger volume of new students.

The parties have always had proposals on how to enter universities. It was the act that always made it difficult. It is a fact, however, that there was no majority that did not attempt or did not finally make some change.

There have been many discussions and the political forces have clashed many times over the institution of pan-Hellenic courts. The freer and more open access was chosen by the forces of the center-left, without, however, anything ever progressing. Until today, the education of students at the Lyceum was unable to meet the increased needs of the specific exams.

And everything shows that in order to do something like this, a lot of work is needed. Albeit informally, on the occasion of the bill on non-state universities (expected to be passed by the end of the month), the conversation about the “national baccalaureate” has reportedly started once again, which will also mean the automatic upgrading of education process in the last three grades of the school. As it was discussed in the past, the grades of 1st-2nd-3rd high school will be counted for its acquisition.

Entrance exams will not be abolished, but their importance for university entrance will be greatly weakened. This measure can be called fair, as it is unfair for a 17-year-old student to depend his whole future on a three-hour test. However, it requires radical changes in secondary education.

The course should become interesting and the grading should be objective with an eye on the university. The Subject Bank will certainly play a role for the final exams at school. All this was discussed in the national dialogue on education that took place in 2009. At the time, Anna Diamantopoulou was at the helm of the Ministry of Education and the dialogue was conducted by Georgios Babiniotis. The former chancellor of the University of Athens recently reiterated the opinion that the national baccalaureate should be the “ticket” for the admission of students to HEIs.

She is now the candidate of the professors who point out that it is distorted that an entire educational level, the Lyceum, is not taken into account for which children will enter the universities. At the same time, HEIs should also have a serious reason. What should be the next step of the parties?

The restart of the national dialogue on education. Without calculating political costs and arriving at a common proposal. Disagreements until now have always had a purpose for both the majority and the opposition. A typical example was the securing of the rating in the 80s and 90s with the system of bonds, which for many years no one proceeded to abolish this specific regulation.

All this discussion is expected to start after the passage of the higher education bill. Kyriakos Pierrakakis, however, has clarified that “any national baccalaureate should keep the acquis of the objective correction of the Panhellenic Examinations”.