“The establishment of non-state/non-profit branches of foreign HEIs voted by the governing majority is an imitation of reform that does not provide a comprehensive answer to the impasses facing public education in our country at all levels“, said Nikos Androulakis, beginning his speech in the Parliament, categorically stating that PASOK-Movement of Change will not vote on principle for this pseudo-labeled reform, but will support whatever articles it considers to be in the direction of supporting the public University.

“We don’t trust that you really want to strengthen public education and public universities. Nor do we believe that your plan aims to establish truly non-state non-profit universities, which will contribute to the overall upgrading of education in the country”, said the president of PASOK-KINAL and questioned the credibility of the government and the prime minister, saying “how does he baptize reform the arrangements’.

“For us, education reform means vision, consultation, reliable implementation. This is what we did at the end of August 2011, when 255 MPs voted in favor of Law 4009/11, known as the Diamantopoulos Law. The Minister of Education, who was a member of PASOK at the time, will remember it well”, noted Mr. Androulakis. He added that for PASOK, public Education is a key mechanism for upward social mobility and a lever for transition to the new era of scientific and technological revolutions.

Responding to Mr. Mitsotakis on PASOK-KINAL’s position regarding the public university, Nikos Androulakis said, leaving a point for Niki Kerameos, that “85 of your 89 articles discredit this grandiose reform that your predecessor voted for. How should we take this in terms of the evaluation of Mrs. Kerameos, who, since she is here, must explain to us why she was hiding for four days for the leak of thousands of personal data of voters abroad and after a holiday she ordered an EDE”.

“You legislate according to their instructions and what I am saying is not an exaggeration,” argued Mr. Androulakis, pointing out the paradox, as he said, “specific funds have already made their investments in Greece for months and you come later and adjust, with constitutional acrobatics in fact, a law on their investments. The bill we are debating today was drafted in secret. Even after it was presented to the Cabinet, it took more than two months for it to be put up for public consultation and the revelations to be made: that the title “non-profit” is just the buzzword of private for-profit subsidiaries”.

He invoked the opinion of the scientific committee of the Parliament and formulated the question: “How can a fund and a for-profit foreign university, only a for-profit branch, be established in Greece. And furthermore, rules to avoid indirect profit distribution and falsification of the non-profit nature of the annex are not included. So which non profit affiliates do you advertise?’

At this point, the president of PASOK-Movement for Change revealed, filing the relevant document in the minutes, that “the interested parties were not only aware of the content of the bill, but even before it was published they had notified the Competition Commission of their intention to establish a branch in Greece».

“So it’s not that the country can’t wait 4 years to complete the constitutional review, but it’s the interests that are in a hurry. The big problem of your government is that citizens encounter arrogance and corruption everywhere,” said Nikos Androulakis, referring to corruption looming over the Tempe crime, wiretapping after the US Treasury fined Indelexa , in health, in the Recovery Fund.

Explaining his party’s position, Nikos Androulakis underlined that his firm position for 20 years it has been a change in article 16 ca non-state-non-profit universities and addressing the prime minister, he told him that he had changed his position, reading an earlier statement by Mr. Mitsotakis where he states: “And here I would like to read something to you: “No debate on higher education can be , if it does not focus on changing Article 16 of the Constitution. The reaction to any discussion of Article 16 is revealing.

It also reveals a lot of hypocrisy because, as you well know, Greece today recognizes the university degrees of other countries of the European Union.

It is acceptable, therefore, today for someone to be a graduate of a private university, which has a branch in Greece, as long as it is not of Greek interests.

And how long will we finally tolerate this hypocrisy?”

Mr. Androulakis went a step further by talking about “janissary battalion” of former PASOK executives who are now in the SW, which “don’t remember what they said all those years when they were ministers, members of the Political Council? So stop the hypocrisy. Stop scorning the intelligence of the Greek people and together with the communication arms trying to make it black and white. It is not PASOK that has changed its position on this particular issue, but your fellow banks and you personally.”

The president of PASOK-Movement of Change spoke about the communication mechanisms of the government that distort and target the positions of PASOK-KINAL, because, as he said, “you are afraid of the proposal, our progressive proposal, the different perspective, because you were used to populism and the Wishes. You based your hegemony on fear of the worst. This is over. The Greek people now have another choice, with specific proposals for health, education, punctuality, the housing crisis, labor, and the development of the country. Start getting used to it.”

“We will not give a blank check, because PASOK as an alternative governance proposal guarantees that the establishment of non-state/non-profit universities can be done differently, can be done correctly and must be done correctly.

For the benefit of the middle classes of society, who want their children to have access to quality education, but also to prevent new inequalities from being created. In contrast to the patchwork and loophole laws, whose constitutionality will be judged in the courts, we have a concrete and solid proposal” concluded Nikos Androulakis.