Eugenia Arvanitis
Ana Garner
Anastasia-Olga (Olnancy) Tzirides
Jessica Andrews
Elizabeth Musgrove
Griselda Escobedo
Angelica Rackow
Ashley Kaufman EDUC 499: Greece - Summer 2019’s Updates
4. Greek Financial Crisis & Education
In the last ten years, Greece has been negatively impacted by the 2008 financial crisis, where a global recession caused Greece to spiral into a spending defecit. By 2010, Greece reached such a high defecit that its markets were frozen. For the people of Greece, this caused rioting, high taxes, and cuts in salaries. Today, Greece's economcy has been stabalized to the point of no longer having to receive "life support" from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. Taking all of this information into consideration when analyzing how the financial crisis in Greece has impacted the educational system, it didn't surprise me to find out that Athens University had to face huge cuts, as this is something I had encountered during my own schooling experience here in the United States when a referendum funding school facilities and equipment was not passed. In terms of coping with the crisis, schools in Greece are reforming their policies to become more student centered and focus on the needs of students. I think that this is an interesting approach and definetly one that many schools here in the United States could benefit from. Additionally, schools are trying to reform how immigrant children in schools are being treated. The second article explains how many immigrants are viewed as scapegoats during times of crisis, especially a financial crisis as large as the one Greece experienced, so I think it is important for schools and teachers to not only address discrimination or stereotypes that may be in place, but work to improve the experience of immigrant students.
Phoebe, I also agree with you that the reforms made in schools can be a benefit. Schooling becoming more student focused is a benefit for the students. In times like these it is important to find some positive aspect to the situation. I also think it was a positive that immigrants' schooling experience was strongly addressed in order for schools to ensure that society's view of immigrants did not reflect in schools and so peers didn't view their peers differently.
Phoebe, it was interesting to hear of the parallel you made of your own schooling experience here in the US with the referendum not passing and the financial crisis and impact on the educational system in Greece. Budget cuts seem to be impacting schools and education everywhere these days, so it's something that truly needs to be addressed by those in the political realm. I also think that we in the US could learn once again from our friends in Greece, by taking a more student centered approach in our own educational system. In my school district there is talk of reinstating classes in the trades, as not everyone is necessarily meant for the college path, yet needs to be given the opportunity to become a productive contributing citizen in their community.
Phoebe, there have been significant effects on education, at the expense of the
vulnerable population, resulting in increased absenteeism of students, early school leaving and increasing pressure on poor households to cover education costs. I could imagine that the price of teaching materials are high and that many many teachers now have to purchase these materials on their own cost. This can result in reduced motivation and performance form both the students and the teachers. The closure and merging of small public schools in rural areas has been noted in the majority of European countries, especially Greece.