Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-03-14

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Younger generation under attack, Papandreou says

[02] Bill on higher education passed by Parliament

[01] Younger generation under attack, Papandreou says

The situation on the streets of Athens was proof of the "total failure of a callous, incompetent and dangerous government," he said while addressing a meeting of his party's Parliamentary Council.

Papandreou said that young people were "thirsting for major changes in education, meritocracy and equal participation in productive processes". Even though young people ?are called on to shoulder the greater burden of the changes and challenges faced by Hellenism and humanity", they were nevertheless "treated with disdain, persecuted and reviled by the government, which is incapable of understanding and solving the big problems faced by the country and the young generation," he added.

He said that the government, "incapable of advancing solutions, changes and reforms needed in Education, has added new problems". This, Papandreou continued, was why the government had opted to make the hooded troublemakers their interlocutors while disregarding the country's youth, and had chosen to make the public order ministry the protagonist in education and youth issues. But "the problems of Education and the young generation cannot be resolved by the public order minister (Vyron Polydoras), the PASOK leader added.

Papandreou further accused the government of dissolution of education, saying that the universities had closed down and remained closed through the blame of the government and its sterile insistence of enacting laws in the absence of the university community and, in essence, against Education itself, introducing a shoddy bill without prospects.

The PASOK leader warned that the government "is literally playing with fire, and thinks that, in this way, it can grab the citizens' votes", but "the silent majority the government invokes is not at all silent, and is already shouting out: 'Enough'."

"The problems are primarily social, and are not solved with a truncheon. We want open universities. We want them to open now so that a dialogue can at last take place in a composed way. But the main responsibility lies with the government," he said, and reiterated an older statement he had made that "one of the first actions by our (PASOK) government will be to change the (framework) law because it is shoddy, inconsistent, and leads to impasses, and does not give any solution and prospect to the country".

"We will introduce our own framework on Education comprehensively. At any rate, the ND law is shoddy and is, and will remain, inactive," Papandreou said.

"After the elections we will provide the outlet that the country needs, with consistency in positions and stances, with principles and a programme, with a common struggle of collective and individual responsibility, as demanded of us by our democratic party and the Greek people."

Turning to agricultural issues and his recent tour of Thessaly, Papandreou said he had received very positive messages from his visit, adding that the agricultural world was once again listening to PASOK, trusting it and relying on it for confrontation of the very big problems faced by the sector, and was seeking in PASOK hope for its future and the prospects of Greek agricultural, while at the same time acknowledging the party's systematic work in recent years.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of PASOK leader George Papandreou at a PASOK Political Council Meeting on March 1

[02] Bill on higher education passed by Parliament

The bill is titled "Reform of the institutional framework for the structure and operation of higher education institutions".

For bill was passed exclusively with the support of ruling New Democracy (ND) deputies.

Many academics and much of the student body are vehemently opposed to the government's law, which among others introduces measures changing the university asylum regime, sets a ceiling on the numbers years of study, introduces student loans, a more representative election process for university faculty administrations, independent evaluation, more transparent management of colleges' finances as well as increased autonomy. Majority of student unions vote in favor of open universities An overwhelming majority of 112 of the 193 university student unions nationwide decided to end the university school takeovers, while 81 are still in favor of that form of protest, according to a statement issued by the ruling New Democracy party-affiliated student union DAP-NDFK. The statement was issued after the general assembly meetings held by students on Tuesday to decide how to continue mobilisations against the framework-law on higher education after this was passed by parliament. According to DAP, the student general assemblies were marred by scuffles that broke out between the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) PKS student union and the EAAK (Independent Leftist Movement) over which side was responsible for the division of last Thursday's (March 8) student protest march. The DAP-NDFK statement also mentions that similar scuffles between members of student unions that resulted in injuries took place at the University of Piraeus and the Crete Polytechnic as well as during the Thessaloniki Economics Student Union general assembly meeting. In a related development, the takeover at the TEI (technological institution of higher education) in Kozani ended at midnight, while a demand by the students for a double examination period (covering both semesters of the school year) and making up the lost hours (due to the takeovers) of the first semester was rejected. The takeover at the Crete Polytechnic was also discontinued, following a late-night decision by the university's students' general assembly, which, however, also decided to continue its mobilisations against the framework-law but with the Polytechnic's Schools remaining open, as proposed by the main opposition PASOK-affiliated student union PASP. The PASP proposal approved by the general assembly also provides for a demonstration march on Friday afternoon. The students further demanded that the first-semester examinations period that did not take place as scheduled in January due to the takeovers be re-scheduled for September. Meanwhile, a Greek Police (ELAS) statement issued in response to mass media reports referring to the use of new police gear, stressed that the police forces will not change their tactics, method of action and legitimate means they use while doing their duty. The police statement also called on all sides to display cool-headedness and self-restraint in view of Thursday's (March 15) student demonstration in Athens. The demonstration organizers in particular are called to safeguard the peaceful nature of the rally and demonstration in accordance with Article 11 of the Constitution. <font color="#FFFFFF" size="3" face="Verdana">

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo depicting Education Minister Marietta Yiannakou, who brought the education bill to Parliament.

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