Opposition calls on government to scrap tougher uni entrance grades

The leader of Greece’s main opposition SYRIZA party lashed out against the center-right government’s education reforms on Friday, demanding that it takes back the “outrageous” increase of university admission grades.

Addressing lawmakers in Parliament, Alexis Tsipras said the decision to increase admission standards for the country’s state-run universities will deprive an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 pupils of their right to free higher education. 

The government, he said, is “sacrificing them at the altar of serving the interests of private, fee-paying colleges.”

Tsipras also accused Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of “political cowardice” for not responding to three formal requests tabled by the leftist party for explanations concerning the decision during the regular Prime Minister’s Hour in Parliament.

“He cannot look 100,000 students sitting exams and their parents in the eye,” Tsipras said of the prime minister, referring to national university entrance exams, which begin in mid-June.