Chapter 176 Education Reform

According to Laris, the government intends to invest 12 million drachmas to build several new universities. This is a very clever conspiracy.

12 million drachmas may not be enough to build three new universities.

Therefore, Laris's words can be understood in this way, that is, the government's investment in education is only used for the construction of these universities.

There is no doubt that the government is picking peaches directly, and the hard work of watering, fertilizing, and taking care of peach trees is done by the foundation - the foundation is still responsible for junior and secondary education.

Higher education is the terminal of the education system and the concentrated manifestation of educational achievements.

Popularizing primary education can open up people's wisdom, improve the quality of the people, and increase the literacy rate. However, these benefits are not intuitive and cannot make people have an intuitive feeling.

Higher education is different. The number of college students trained and university graduates have become social elites such as lawyers and scientists. These achievements of higher education are very intuitive.

Therefore, the government can show the public a great sense of achievement by spending less money on finances. This approach is very cunning.

The struggle between the Education Foundation and the government for influence in the field of education is essentially a conflict between the royal power and the government. Therefore, although Prime Minister Alexandros has a close relationship with Constantine himself, and he himself knows what the royal family has done in the field of education, the government will not sit idly by and watch him lose control of the field of education.

Constantine's mind was racing, and these ideas emerged in his mind one by one.

Regardless of the original intention of the government's investment in education, it is indeed a good thing for the development of education in Greece.

At least, after the government's investment is completed, Greece has several more universities and can train more talents every year.

"The government is willing to increase investment in the field of education, which is naturally a good thing, but in fact, Greece's higher education is not urgently needed at this stage." Hearing about the government's investment, Ikios said happily.

"On the contrary, it is a technical college. Greece is currently short of technical talents. It is better to build a number of technical schools."

The level of technical schools is equivalent to high schools in the education system. However, if high school students cannot enter university, they do not have much advantage in employment.

Technical schools are different. The learning time is short. After all, you don't have to go to college for four years, which can save four years of time and money.

Learning professional and practical skills in technical schools, these technical school graduates are very popular with factory owners. The rapid development of Greek technical colleges is a clear proof.

As for higher education, considering the total population and economic structure of Greece, it is simply impossible to provide so many high-end jobs for college students.

Moreover, once the number of college graduates expands rapidly, it will lead to serious unemployment among graduates, which will cause serious social problems.

It will also cause a waste of talents. High-level talents will succumb to low-end jobs and engage in some low-end jobs that high school students or even people with lower education can do.

Historically, after Bulgaria's independence, the number of college students increased rapidly, but the society could not provide them with sufficient jobs. As a result, these large numbers of unemployed college graduates later became the main force of the revolution and the source of power of the Bulgarian gcd.

"Principal Ikios is right. The development of higher education cannot be out of touch with social reality, and the more college students there are, the better," Constantine advised Laris.

Laris frowned and thought about the suggestion of developing technical schools.

He also knew that the reason why the government was so eager to expand higher education regardless of waste was that it also intended to reduce the influence of the University of Athens.

As the only comprehensive university in Greece, the Education Foundation accounts for 70% of the funding of the University of Athens. The Education Foundation and the University of Athens have developed almost synchronously.

If the government's plan to build three new universities can be completed, then the situation in which the University of Athens is the only one in the field of higher education in Greece can be effectively curbed in the future.

However, it is indeed not advisable to blindly expand the scale of higher education. After all, it is impossible to waste a lot of social resources just to compete for educational influence.

"In this case, then build a comprehensive university in Tirana, and then use the rest of the money for technical schools. In the future, when the teaching staff of these technical schools develops, technical schools can be promoted to real universities according to social needs," said Laris.

This is the government and the Education Foundation taking a step back.

After the people in the conference room communicated with each other, no one objected, so this suggestion was recognized by everyone.

"At present, our country's education system is generally modeled on Germany's civic education," said Principal Ikios.

"Since the government will vigorously develop higher education in the future, the personnel system reform of our Greek universities must also change."

"There are many teachers recruited from Europe in the University of Athens. These foreign talents are currently the backbone of Greek higher education."

"Most of these people are young scholars. They are willing to come to Greece to teach, more because we offer good salaries. Once European universities have opportunities, they are more willing to return," Ikios said helplessly.

Laris said in confusion; "Since we offer higher salaries, why do they still prefer to go back? This is unreasonable."

"In order to ensure academic freedom, German universities generally adopt the professor-run system. These professors are few in number, tenured, and have a high status in the university and a high social status."

"As for our University of Athens, it has always been in a period of rapid development, and in the construction of the system, it is a bit eager for quick success and instant benefits." At this point, President Ikios looked at Constantine and his wife.

As the president of the foundation, Sophie was born in the German royal family. The modern university operation system originated in Germany, so she naturally understood the principle of professor-run schools.

It's just that the University of Athens was established not long ago, and the Education Foundation is the largest funder of the University of Athens. Sometimes it is inevitable that it will appear to be domineering, which makes foreign teachers uncomfortable and feel that outside forces can interfere with the operation of the school at will.

Moreover, Greece has only one comprehensive university. Whenever there are technical problems in development, they naturally think of the University of Athens.

Just like when the oil fields in Albania appeared before, Constantine gave an order, and the University of Athens immediately mobilized faculty and formed an oil research group to study oil-related chemical technology.

“In this case, in the future construction of higher education, we must also guarantee the academic freedom of Greek universities, learn from the advanced level of European universities, gradually adopt the system of professorial governance, and ensure academic freedom,” Sophie concluded.