University shoots down students’ request for more study time

A controversy erupted this week at the influential Athens School of Law after a demand by students for longer studying hours at the faculty’s library was rejected by the administration.

In a recent letter to the rector’s office, the Independent Students (ANEF) group asked that the library’s reading room be kept open until 9 p.m., instead of closing at 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and at 5 p.m. on Fridays as is currently the case.

It also noted that the number of staff at the library has dropped from 18 to 10 since 2016 and demanded that more people be hired so the facility can better serve the school’s students.

Speaking to Kathimerini, officials at the Athens Law School, which denied the students’ request, said that such a move would entail paying for the existing staff to work overtime, which is not justified under the funding program that bankrolls their salaries, and also hiring two more part-time employees. All together this would come to a cost of 20,000 euros that the school cannot afford, said the officials, who declined to be named.

Critics of the administration’s decision argue that the refusal to grant such a basic and essential request highlights the bureaucratic hangups that fuel tensions between students and administrators and hinder the progress of Greece’s public universities.

Athens Law School is a part of the University of Athens.