University reform to include performance-linked funding

Education Minister Niki Kerameus on Tuesday announced an overhaul of the state higher education system that foresees the strict evaluation of institutions and the connection of part of their budgets to their performance.

Kerameus heralded the creation of a National Authority for Higher Education that would evaluate universities and their staff and merge or abolish faculties accordingly.

According to the plan, 20 percent of the state’s budget for universities will be disbursed only if they adhere to criteria set by national higher education authorities, what the ministry described as “performance-based funding.”

Kerameus said the ministry’s criteria in drafting the reform included “transparency, objectiveness, meritocracy and the decentralization of power.”

“The country is turning a page in education too,” she said.