Protest against private universities underway in Athens
[Yiannis Liakos/Intime News]
Students and teachers rallied in central Athens on Thursday to protest against the establishment of private universities in Greece.
Despite the rain, protesters gathered at Propylaia and are expected to mark towards the Parliament.
Critics of the bill, which sets the terms for foreign, non-profit universities to open branches in Greece and to forge partnerships with local institutions, argue that it defies constitutional provisions for free tertiary education.
The Ministry of Education will use a 2020 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union to allow private universities despite Article 16 of the Constitution expressly stating that tertiary education establishments must be public.
