Greece’s Socialist Education Article
October 14, 2011
12:11 PM
Summary
Greece is suffering the consequences of their socialism. Universities are free in socialist Greece and have been that way since 1975. Despite the guarantee of free education in Greece’s constitution, George Papandreou is attending an expensive college far from home. He could be attending a school on the state’s drachma. Instead, he spends about $17,000 year in tuition alone. In Greene, higher education must be state subsidized or it is forbidden. Private colleges are illegal, so wealthy Greeks evade the law by studying abroad. Less wealthy people are stuck in the monopoly run by the government. Greece’s public education and other “public” give-outs are running them into the ground and creating a large budget deficit, also leading to crumby state schools for the masses.
Analysis
I originally thought that it may be best to offer free higher education and that socialism might just be a good thing. However, this article made me think about how a socialist education may not be that great. First, even though everyone has access to free higher education it is not a comprehensive education. This could be because the professors or students have no incentive to work harder since everyone receives the fairly the same benefits, pay, etc. Since, the wealthy send their kids to study abroad at expensive universities; an unfair advantage is being created. It is just like private schools versus underfunded schools in other countries. Greece needs to rethink their vision for their country, even more their school system. It is clearly not beneficial for all and is creating education inequity even though it is free. I am beginning to believe that educational inequality happens in so many different ways and no one solution could work for every country, the solution may need to be tailored to each country.
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