The Guardian 14 June, 2006
Greece: thousands of students
defend public education
Thousands of university students have participated in the demonstrations across Greece in defence of public tertiary education. The actions, which began on June 1, were triggered by a reform plan announced by the government that would further undermine the public character of universities and student rights.
They held mass demonstrations, sit-ins of faculties and other forms of struggle and protest. General assemblies of the students’ unions have taken place in 150 faculties with the participation of more than 45,000 students. Around 200 faculties (that correspond to approximately 140 students’ unions) are under recurrent occupation by the students.
A national mobilisation was held on Thursday June 8, followed by local demonstrations in various cities and towns of Greece on the Friday.
The left-wing trade union front PAME and several class-oriented trade unions and federations expressed their solidarity with the students, promoting joint initiatives with them and organising visits to workplaces and other activities to inform and mobilise the workers.
The struggles focus on the governmental bill for the "reform" of higher education, the discussions for the abolition of article 16 of the constitution that defines and safeguards the exclusively public character of university education. The students are opposed to privatisation and university fees.
In a communiqué the Communist Party of Greece’s (KKE) District Organisation of Universities and Technological Institutions of Athens invited all students, professors and workers in the Universities to join their efforts against the policies of the ruling New Democracy (ND) and PASOK (social democrat) parties and the EU so that the bill would not submitted to parliament. The KKE also called for a further escalation of the struggle.
The KKE called upon all workers, students, teachers to participate actively in the ongoing struggle in order to:
stop the new law promoting reactionary changes in the legal framework for higher education
counter the attempts for the abolition of article 16 of the constitution
revoke all reactionary measures already imposed by the governments of ND and PASOK
abolish any private and business-driven activity in the field of education
demand a Unified Higher Education system which is public, free of charge, at the service of the people’s interests
guarantee degrees that will have weight, and will constitute the only prerequisite for working in the relevant scientific field; for jobs with rights.