To honor the tradition of Tsiknopempti, students protesting the bill for private universities,set up a grill and put their diplomas on hot charcoal. they raised a banner reading “Mitsotakis Tavern S.A. sells off our degrees.”
It should be recalled that Tsiknopempti is the day where Greeks traditionally grill and roast meat on open fire, 11 days before the start of the big Lent.
During the action in Thessaloniki on Thursday, they chanted slogans that the government is selling off their degrees and that they want public and education free of charge.
They then marched through the main streets of the city in northern Greece, a day before the massive student protests across the country scheduled for Friday, March 8, 2024.
Hundreds of students in Thessaloniki plan to travel to Athens by bus overnight to join the big protest in the Greek capital.
Students protest private universities reasonably fearing the under funding of public universities and the downgrading of their studies.
At the same time they question the qualifications of private universities graduates who will be able to finish medical or law studies in shorter time than in public universities.
Meanwhile, inside the Parliament, government and opposition have been debating the controversial bill.
Ruling ND ministers and MPs claim “an opportunity for Greece”, while the opposition questions the bill’s conformity with the Constitution, as Article 16 forbids the establishment of private universities.
Only last week, Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis had claimed that “Article 16 has to be change, however, the country is in a hurry.”
Nobody understood why the “country was in a hurry” and by whom, and the minister did not bother to explain.
Later, the government claimed that a – fictional – EU directive on private universities. A search by the scientific committee of the Parliament proved that this claim was not true.
The fierce debated in the Parliament continues on Thursday, with MPs from both fronts to have used harsh expression against each other.
The voting of the bill is on Friday. It is certain the ruling New Democracy will have the bill passed due to its majority of votes.
Even after the voting, opposition can appeal to the Council of State, the highest court in the country.
The students’ rally will start at 12 noon in front of Athens University on Panepistimiou Avenue and end in front of the Parliament opposite the Syntagma square.
Greek students with their gunmetal grade hipocrisy, 60% of them aspire to work in a free market economy somewhere else in the world , but don’t want it in there own country, all part of the Greece is for Greeks ,rest of the world for Greeks mentality ,more protectionist xenophobia which lingers like bad breath.