University-level school for performing arts in the pipeline

Legislation establishing Greece’s first state-run university-level school for the performing arts will be presented at a cabinet meeting on Thursday before being put to public consultation and then heading to Parliament for ratification.

The new school, according to the legislation that has been seen by Kathimerini, will be designed and organized along the model of the widely respected Athens School of Fine Arts, offering undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral programs.

It will further consist of five departments that will emerge by incorporating the schools of as many state-funded organizations: the Greek National Theater, the Greek National Opera, the State School of Ballet, the State Theater of Northern Greece and the State Music School of Thessaloniki. Teaching staff will also be drawn from those schools and augmented by distinguished artists in their respective fields.

Students will have to pass exams to gain admission to the new school and their degrees will be equal to those for other disciplines from the country’s public universities, meaning they can also apply for public sector jobs on equal terms.

The last time a similar attempt was made was in 2007, when a proposal by a committee of academics and artists was nixed by universities.