War of words erupts over online learning platform

The ongoing acrimony between the government and SYRIZA over the cost of the Cisco Webex platform used by students for online education during the lockdown continued Tuesday, with Education Minister Niki Kerameus accusing the leftist party of petty populism.

SYRIZA had contested the government claims that the platform’s use had been secured for free and alleged the personal data of users was compromised. 

Kerameus insisted that the data was protected while reiterating that the contract with Cisco from March 2020 to January 2021 provided for “free concession of the Webex teleconferencing platform.”

However, she noted that “obviously, using the e-learning platform could not be free forever” and that the total cost was 2.15 million euros.

SYRIZA officials told Kathimerini that her statement was tantamount to a “confession” that the contract with Cisco was not free, as was initially claimed.