A. Orientation of the problem
A.1. Historical background of the problem of Greek education
The study of the problems of Lyceum (Senior High School) as a part of Greek Education would be an attempt that would fail, unless it is observed in correlation with the general problems of our education. In the New-Greek state, born in the third decade of the previous century, the process of education was in accordance with the socio-economical evolution in Greece.
Of course this procedure was not that simple as we present it here, in brief. Actually, it went through many phases as historical, methodological and other factors contributed to these changes. The most basic factors were the objective ones, which are related to material production, and more specifically the contradictions in the development of productive forces inside capitalism. Science in practice and mechanization in all the phases of production brought a radical change in the way of production. From an objective-material aspect, it is required the substitution of man’s physical power and gained skills through experience by the conscious application of science since in the meanwhile the cooperative way of working has become a technical necessity. And as the more the mechanization of production goes to upper levels (electricity is introduced and later on electronics and automatism too), the more the value of scientific knowledge increases and with it the need for scientific staff for research, production and control of machines increases too. Through the development of production forces, the reduction of hand work arises, having as a result, the rejection of contrast between hand- and mental-work as well. However, this contradiction is maintained by the conscious and intentional intervention of the ruling class (putting barriers in proletarians’ general education, supporting children’s early vocational specialization, trying to deceive them by offering money to those who despite their difficulties succeed in becoming known on a part of science, art etc.) By every means, the bourgeoisie class provides, such amount of knowledge to the working class, so as not bourgeois be deprived of their political and economical benefits, and above all, their political power and private property in the means of production.
In every country and all over the world the class struggle has been the moving force to the opening of the educational “pyramid” to upper levels. So during the 20th century and especially after World War II, great success took place, because the correlation of revolutionary forces was more beneficial for the working class, especially after the establishment of socialism on the 1/3 of the world and because of the development of working class movement in capitalistic countries. The socialistic countries stretched the meaning of compulsory education up to the Middle Level and made a reality the Polytechnical School of General education (especially at the USSR and the DDR), a necessity which Karl Marx first had mentioned. These attainments were the results of the appearance of social property on the means of production and the abolition of human labour exploitation. They were serving the general attempt of socialism to move up on a higher society, the developed communism, where all classes and class antitheses as well as the contrasts between mental- and hand-work are rejected. The achievements of the socialistic system inspired the working class struggle in the capitalistic countries and the ruling class (that never quit the idea of reducing public education) was forced to back off, fearing of the worse. In correlation with the legislative prohibition of children’s work it is also established children’s attendance at school until the age of 15. So, no matter how it is called in every country, the meaning of Basic Education, that constitutes the main body of Education and is related to public knowledge, is solidified. This is the exact direction, that Greek Education followed, with the 9 years compulsory education, as a sum of 6 years Primary and 3 years Lower Secondary which is called Gymnasium, without regarding these years as one grade. Even though Greek Lyceum (Senior High School) gets a massive character, it does not stop being a kind of elite, as it is orientated by the minority that is going to enter to the next educational level (higher education or otherwise Universities). Basic Education’s graduates are led to production, or else after Senior High School, to scientific education. Of course, the content of general schooling remained narrow, as the reaction of capitalistic West towards the Polytechnical School was limited since they added only some “practical” lessons to the already existing schools. Class segregation had always been Greek Education’s general characteristic at all its aspects. This division helps the aims of bourgeoisie class, after socialism’s turnover in European countries.
a) General Basic Education. Typically, it is compulsory for all the people and provides to children and young teenagers, the necessary elements so as to be able to function into the society. Inside this educational net, there exist the so-called “Quality Schools” (private in a majority), that are available to those who belong to the financially ruling classes. On the other hand, there are the public schools, available to simple families, who cannot afford paying for such an education. Of course, here again, this is a general estimation and not the exact picture of reality.
b) High Educational Level. In the Anglo-Saxon schools it is called “High School” and it corresponds to the Greek “Lyceum”. It is an originally elite level and it is actually the entrance to Higher Education. Such a School does not represent a public School, not only from the perspective of its population, but also from its aims, objectives and methodologies. We see that, the more the access to Universities procedure is binded to High School, the more class segregations are maintained. In addition to the above, education outside school (afternoon lessons, either in organized classes of private sector, or lessons in small groups as well as private teaching) is growing more and more. What’s more, this educational level has been altered. It began as a Classical and Practical, and later, in the 50’s we see the Nautical and Technical -Vocational Gymnasiums and High Schools, until we see the last great division into General, Technical - Vocational and Unified Multi-Department Lyceum. This division is strengthened, when Gymnasium and Lyceum were completely divided. We also see that Technical Knowledge was officially established in 1959 and from the beginning it was faced as an inferior part of education. According to laws 2525/97 and 2640/98 it is completely related to technical-vocational institutions, which were inferior educational institutions, subdued to outside schooling vocational education.
c) Series of “Schools” (without corresponding to special grades), usually private, that were founded according to the circumstances and they promised to provide ‘equipment’ for success in life. In Greece such schools were the Technical & Vocational institutions. These, at first, belonged to the authority of several ministries and after 1959 they belonged to the Ministry of Education & Religion, because of the foundation of Public Technical & Vocational Education. But as the Technical education belonged to the private sector until then, the public schools were founded in accordance with the private ones. The last off springs of these kinds of schools, are the Technical Institutions (TEE), which substituted the Technical High Schools (TEL, TES) and their aim is the professional skills acquisition through “apprenticeship learning”. At the moment, they function in inferiority, under the shadow of Institutions of Vocational Learning (IEK & KEK). These kinds of institutions constitute a field of constant exploitation by the business men.
d) A net of Higher Schools, which correspond to colleges, a kind of non-university education, having a strong vocational character. In our country, years ago, we had the academies, some unofficial schools, like Anastasiades’ “Higher School of Electronics”, and later on the Higher Technological Education Centers of Greece, also known as Technological Educational Institutions (TEI). These institutions were founded as parts of higher (not highest) education, when the necessity of short time schooling for specialized staff, in our country arise, inside a phase of industrialization and reconstruction of agriculture. This staff would constitute the middle level in the pyramid of production forces, between the skilled worker and the scientist. Their mission was not only the application of specific technical routes, but the reproduction of a self-sufficient work, but in a minimized range. This means, that they would be a kind of controlled scientists, a kind of sub-scientists, sub-engineers. The modern kind of development end the requirement of university at scientific departments, put under doubt the role of such institutes outside the highest level, and led to the necessity of radical reconstruction inside a Unified Highest Education.
e) Finally, the Universities.
1) The educational policy, applied in Greece from the second decade of 19th century (1821) until the end of the 20th century, it is actually an educational policy of classes, defined anytime by the governing classes: from Kotsabasides (rich feudarchs) in alliance with the newborn bourgeoisie class and later on with the native and foreign capital.
2) Ideologically, it is defined by the orientations of the ruling class, so that finally it is transformed into a machine of sovinistic education, which later on (1920 and on) it is strengthened by a raw and disgusting anti-communism, whilst with the help of the Church of Greece we reach a racism-craze: of ”Greece of Greek Orthodox”. Its philosophy, a weird mixture of romantic adore of antiquity, has as its core agnosticism and irrationalism. Science, that later was considered to be inferior and still nowadays it is taught in a narrow range, apart from its philosophical content, it is misinterpreted by idealistic views. At the same time, at anthropological subjects, there’s a rejection of science, covered truth and raw propaganda of bourgeoisie ideology and policy.
3) All educational reforms that happened, apart from that of the government of free Greece during occupation and resistance in 1944, have the following characteristics:
4) The last “educational reform” recycles old materials and through the administrative processes of school, tries to strengthen the mechanisms of social segregations. To be more specific, the aim is to reduce the increased requirement for qualitative education. By this way, using underground methods, it is bound to the attempt in 1926, which established the entrance-exams to the Universities and reached its top at the period 1929-1930 facing the problem of teachers’ unemployment. This situation went on during Metaxas’ dictatorship and after the liberation from Germans, going on from bad to worse, until it is nowadays proved, that this problem cannot be solved inside the crises of the capitalistic system. The basic characteristic of this attempt is the organized, gradual rejection of students away from Gymnasium towards Lyceum and from the middle grades of Lyceum. It is a policy according to the perspectives and targets of state-monopoly capitalism. At the same time, it is a policy, which objects to the general trend for expansion on the field of knowledge and does not agree with the common sense and the general interest of our people. From the beginning, the last “educational reformation”, is not only conservative but also reactive and that’s why it is going to be under constant doubt.
Result of this whole process, that we referred to in brief above, is that the social pyramid is maintained and renewed in favour of the bourgeoisie class and is unfavourable for the working class, which takes part into education, knowledge, and goods of schooling, in an unequal relation to its social role in the production of goods and civilization. We are not intended to consider as nothing, what has been achieved in the history of Greek education. On the contrary, we emphasize the greatness of the achievements that are doubted today (the state’s obligation for free education, the graduation of High School by the 80-90% of the gymnasium graduates, the connection of Bachelor Degree or Ptyhio to job rights etc), because they were achieved despite the will of those “in power”. We would like to underline that when people want something, they get the power and that the borders of education should not be the borders of bourgeoisie policies. Doubtless one could encounter progressive elements in the pedagogy of bourgeoisie class (in humanistic - classical tradition, some culture in the department of mathematics etc). However, all these have a relative and not an absolute value. For example, the classical - humanistic tradition is not a progressive element, in case Ancient Greek it is faced in a formalistic, raw, verbose way, while fertile creative elements can be found inside ancient literature. Frequently, great pedagogic intellectuals made an attempt to embody elements of democratic rebirth, (school of work, unified centralization teaching, school community etc) into a reactive school. But this attempt was walking on the rocks since it did not dispute the whole philosophy of the school system. The positive side of that attempt, is that pedagogic authority, that sometimes became a pedagogic fashion, was irreversibly hurt from this attempt and finally this controversy gave birth to radical sociopolitical changes. The results of such controversies, was the participation of great Greek intellectuals to the communist movement (Glynos, Papamauros, Imvrioti, Soteriou, Kokkalis, Athanasiadis, Alexiou, Ploumpidis etc), who turned the vision for public education into a political action and life attitude.
A.2. Substance of the problem: The class character of school
Nowadays, while Imperialism rules the whole world, while economy is through a crisis and while the workers movement inclines, the capitalists reject what the working class and oppressed populace have achieved in the past, in order to maintain and expand their financial and political power. That’s why the capitalistic countries establish rearrangements in accordance with commonly agreed policies in imperialistic organizations. What is urgent for the officially social and political authority of European Union (E.U.) is the “new theme”, which is competitiveness and control of social commotions. On one hand, they need workers to be disrupted and conquerable, ready to offer their work force free as well as their consciousness. On the other hand, they use very strict methods of choosing the elite, those who will be capable of gathering wealth without having any moral obstacles and who will be able to handle the whole system for capital’s sake.
And right here the first problem appears: the priority of Vocational Instruction over General Education. A less costing education, is more profitable for the ruling of the system and it teaches the working class of tomorrow the one and only meaning of life: to be profitable for the capital, to live without vocational consolidation, in poverty and face the most shameless exploitation. European Union’s educational ideal is the quick skills training, that in a great rate can happen without schooling and can be taken up by business men. So Basic’s Education’s subject matter is the technical and ideological preparation for the eternal Sisyphus’ torture, of “life-long training”. What is asked by schools is to make young people’s access into Vocational Training easier, starting as early as possible. Instead of expanding Basic-General Education, which is a real need of our people, and can be observed by the increasing number of students who want to attend lessons at Lyceums while there is a pursuit in reducing the number of these students and make them turn towards the system of Vocational Training. As a result, we have a real antithesis and we must abolish the ruling policy completely. Our suggestion has to clarify why and how the expansion of Basic-General Education must be a priority, a presupposition for vocational training. In other words, what kind of Basic Education, as it concerns its quality and quantity, the school should provide, so as to prepare young people for a better life.
A second problem for our education, is the division into separate successive levels (primary, lower secondary or gymnasium, and higher secondary or lyceum), which is connected to the unified of the educational process, and its differentiation is in accordance with the stages of a child’s growing. This issue, inside the bourgeoisie school, is faced through class expediency and through the division of school successive levels. This division into levels and kinds of education, which has appeared through its historical path, represents old-fashioned levels of social development. At modern times, whereby need for popular education is growing constantly, as it is required to last until a young person comes to the age of 18, the expansion of the basic body of education, poses the issue of a unified consideration and fulfillment in a more insisting way. Could we talk about Basic Education and expansion of the compulsory one, when we still keep on the division into levels and intensifying the class segregation for students? Is schooling of the three final years at Senior High School or as it is called Lyceum, will continue to be a separate school, available to those who would like to enter to Universities, or will it be embodied into a unified school, so as to be able to complete its pedagogical mission?
A third problem: the differentiation of the so called post-compulsory education. Years before, we had the differentiation between General and Techno-Vocational Education. Nowadays, the old same twin pair exists, although it is modified. It is the “United Lyceum” (entrance hall for Universities) and Technical Skills Institutions (TEE) (transitional level into vocational instruction). The evolution in the separation of the different kinds of education, shows that it follows and serves the social division: The segregation between General and Techno-Vocational education reflects the social segregation between mental and hand-work. In other words, it is between those who govern and serve workers’ exploitation, and those who become objects of exploitation. Handcraft work and technical education are for the proletariat, and for this reason its position is unequal as is thought to be inferior to General education. Bourgeoisie faces differently and keeps in contrast this issue: in one side is the problem of General Education and in the other side the problem of Techno-Vocational education. Thus an issue is raised: Two or one educational system? Are we going to organize Vocational Education to a parallel but separate system than that of the General Education or are we going to try to build up on the existed General, not only by expanding compulsory education, but also by enriching its content so as to ensure on one hand the personality’s spherical development and on the other hand to pose educational regulations that the vocational instruction which will follow to be in accordance with the demands for social progress?
If we accept the second solution, the one that corresponds to a social reality and which is not less scientific than the other, then other problems arise. For example, if the timetable in every kind of schooling is not enough so as the necessary syllabus to be completed, how could a broader content fit in the same timetable? The answer to this depends on a more general processing of this issue which could be carried on: in accordance with the targets and with the kind of the suggested school, with the priorities on student’s syllabus as well as with the methodology which should be in connection to the development of student’s will. In this way, functional illiteracy could be solved, since one of its characteristics is learning by heart without deep knowledge acquisition. Functional illiteracy starts from the fact that there is no organic and functional use of knowledge or a way of testing it into action and every-day life. This problem cannot be solved by adding subjects and lesson stuff, even if they are “practical” or one’s free choices. The Multi-branch Lyceum followed the same additional method, which reproduced inside them the categorization of students into sections and vocational branches, and the distribution of knowledge objects, without finally ensuring knowledge’s organic cohesion or the harmonic building up of young people’s personality. And this situation has come into a dead end, because of the schedule of the “United Lyceum”, whereby irrelative scientific or not objects of university faculties are mixed together into a narrow space, in order just to gain “fans” or “supporters”. At this schedule, even the most general subject, philosophy, is a subject of theoretical branch and it has as a result the preparatory afternoon lessons of private sector which deprive students from their right to have free time.
In Conclusion: Expansion of General Education and spherical development of personality, before any vocational specialization. Irrespective of social discriminations united character of pedagogy for all students, in a Unified School. Synthesis of theory and practice, science applied in life, by embodying elements of technological training into General Education so as to give a broader cultural and educative perspective. Reconstruction of the program, in order to be united and orientated towards a general view of nature and society and a harmonic development of emotional and mental side of young people. Development of student’s free will, not inside the microcosm of school, but inside society as well, together with productive action, which enriches human nature. We made an attempt to analyze the educational problem at its evolution and we presented these correlations, in order to conclude to our suggestion about a UNIFIED TWELVE-YEAR BASIC COMPULSORY SCHOOL. We are aware of the fact that this suggestion is in conflict with the directions of imperialistic centers and powerful capital. This is not an unreasonable choice. The educational biggest social problem is not a result of human mistakes and technocratic gaps, but it is a result of strategic choices of the ruling class. The capitalistic system in order to maintain its power imposes anti-educational policy, recycling class restrictions, sterile and abstract knowledge and privatization of schooling. Their policy expresses their interests. Our proposition is not addressed to them. Solution and exit of this problem lies somewhere else. The struggle for a school which edifies a stable and creative personality, offers education and mental cultivation to all Greek people, it is social and political, it is a struggle that has to be a matter of all the people themselves.
The study of the problems of Lyceum (Senior High School) as a part of Greek Education would be an attempt that would fail, unless it is observed in correlation with the general problems of our education. In the New-Greek state, born in the third decade of the previous century, the process of education was in accordance with the socio-economical evolution in Greece.
- Gradual Formation of Education
Of course this procedure was not that simple as we present it here, in brief. Actually, it went through many phases as historical, methodological and other factors contributed to these changes. The most basic factors were the objective ones, which are related to material production, and more specifically the contradictions in the development of productive forces inside capitalism. Science in practice and mechanization in all the phases of production brought a radical change in the way of production. From an objective-material aspect, it is required the substitution of man’s physical power and gained skills through experience by the conscious application of science since in the meanwhile the cooperative way of working has become a technical necessity. And as the more the mechanization of production goes to upper levels (electricity is introduced and later on electronics and automatism too), the more the value of scientific knowledge increases and with it the need for scientific staff for research, production and control of machines increases too. Through the development of production forces, the reduction of hand work arises, having as a result, the rejection of contrast between hand- and mental-work as well. However, this contradiction is maintained by the conscious and intentional intervention of the ruling class (putting barriers in proletarians’ general education, supporting children’s early vocational specialization, trying to deceive them by offering money to those who despite their difficulties succeed in becoming known on a part of science, art etc.) By every means, the bourgeoisie class provides, such amount of knowledge to the working class, so as not bourgeois be deprived of their political and economical benefits, and above all, their political power and private property in the means of production.
In every country and all over the world the class struggle has been the moving force to the opening of the educational “pyramid” to upper levels. So during the 20th century and especially after World War II, great success took place, because the correlation of revolutionary forces was more beneficial for the working class, especially after the establishment of socialism on the 1/3 of the world and because of the development of working class movement in capitalistic countries. The socialistic countries stretched the meaning of compulsory education up to the Middle Level and made a reality the Polytechnical School of General education (especially at the USSR and the DDR), a necessity which Karl Marx first had mentioned. These attainments were the results of the appearance of social property on the means of production and the abolition of human labour exploitation. They were serving the general attempt of socialism to move up on a higher society, the developed communism, where all classes and class antitheses as well as the contrasts between mental- and hand-work are rejected. The achievements of the socialistic system inspired the working class struggle in the capitalistic countries and the ruling class (that never quit the idea of reducing public education) was forced to back off, fearing of the worse. In correlation with the legislative prohibition of children’s work it is also established children’s attendance at school until the age of 15. So, no matter how it is called in every country, the meaning of Basic Education, that constitutes the main body of Education and is related to public knowledge, is solidified. This is the exact direction, that Greek Education followed, with the 9 years compulsory education, as a sum of 6 years Primary and 3 years Lower Secondary which is called Gymnasium, without regarding these years as one grade. Even though Greek Lyceum (Senior High School) gets a massive character, it does not stop being a kind of elite, as it is orientated by the minority that is going to enter to the next educational level (higher education or otherwise Universities). Basic Education’s graduates are led to production, or else after Senior High School, to scientific education. Of course, the content of general schooling remained narrow, as the reaction of capitalistic West towards the Polytechnical School was limited since they added only some “practical” lessons to the already existing schools. Class segregation had always been Greek Education’s general characteristic at all its aspects. This division helps the aims of bourgeoisie class, after socialism’s turnover in European countries.
- Levels of Education
a) General Basic Education. Typically, it is compulsory for all the people and provides to children and young teenagers, the necessary elements so as to be able to function into the society. Inside this educational net, there exist the so-called “Quality Schools” (private in a majority), that are available to those who belong to the financially ruling classes. On the other hand, there are the public schools, available to simple families, who cannot afford paying for such an education. Of course, here again, this is a general estimation and not the exact picture of reality.
b) High Educational Level. In the Anglo-Saxon schools it is called “High School” and it corresponds to the Greek “Lyceum”. It is an originally elite level and it is actually the entrance to Higher Education. Such a School does not represent a public School, not only from the perspective of its population, but also from its aims, objectives and methodologies. We see that, the more the access to Universities procedure is binded to High School, the more class segregations are maintained. In addition to the above, education outside school (afternoon lessons, either in organized classes of private sector, or lessons in small groups as well as private teaching) is growing more and more. What’s more, this educational level has been altered. It began as a Classical and Practical, and later, in the 50’s we see the Nautical and Technical -Vocational Gymnasiums and High Schools, until we see the last great division into General, Technical - Vocational and Unified Multi-Department Lyceum. This division is strengthened, when Gymnasium and Lyceum were completely divided. We also see that Technical Knowledge was officially established in 1959 and from the beginning it was faced as an inferior part of education. According to laws 2525/97 and 2640/98 it is completely related to technical-vocational institutions, which were inferior educational institutions, subdued to outside schooling vocational education.
c) Series of “Schools” (without corresponding to special grades), usually private, that were founded according to the circumstances and they promised to provide ‘equipment’ for success in life. In Greece such schools were the Technical & Vocational institutions. These, at first, belonged to the authority of several ministries and after 1959 they belonged to the Ministry of Education & Religion, because of the foundation of Public Technical & Vocational Education. But as the Technical education belonged to the private sector until then, the public schools were founded in accordance with the private ones. The last off springs of these kinds of schools, are the Technical Institutions (TEE), which substituted the Technical High Schools (TEL, TES) and their aim is the professional skills acquisition through “apprenticeship learning”. At the moment, they function in inferiority, under the shadow of Institutions of Vocational Learning (IEK & KEK). These kinds of institutions constitute a field of constant exploitation by the business men.
d) A net of Higher Schools, which correspond to colleges, a kind of non-university education, having a strong vocational character. In our country, years ago, we had the academies, some unofficial schools, like Anastasiades’ “Higher School of Electronics”, and later on the Higher Technological Education Centers of Greece, also known as Technological Educational Institutions (TEI). These institutions were founded as parts of higher (not highest) education, when the necessity of short time schooling for specialized staff, in our country arise, inside a phase of industrialization and reconstruction of agriculture. This staff would constitute the middle level in the pyramid of production forces, between the skilled worker and the scientist. Their mission was not only the application of specific technical routes, but the reproduction of a self-sufficient work, but in a minimized range. This means, that they would be a kind of controlled scientists, a kind of sub-scientists, sub-engineers. The modern kind of development end the requirement of university at scientific departments, put under doubt the role of such institutes outside the highest level, and led to the necessity of radical reconstruction inside a Unified Highest Education.
e) Finally, the Universities.
- The anti-educational policy and the reactive reconstruction of education
1) The educational policy, applied in Greece from the second decade of 19th century (1821) until the end of the 20th century, it is actually an educational policy of classes, defined anytime by the governing classes: from Kotsabasides (rich feudarchs) in alliance with the newborn bourgeoisie class and later on with the native and foreign capital.
2) Ideologically, it is defined by the orientations of the ruling class, so that finally it is transformed into a machine of sovinistic education, which later on (1920 and on) it is strengthened by a raw and disgusting anti-communism, whilst with the help of the Church of Greece we reach a racism-craze: of ”Greece of Greek Orthodox”. Its philosophy, a weird mixture of romantic adore of antiquity, has as its core agnosticism and irrationalism. Science, that later was considered to be inferior and still nowadays it is taught in a narrow range, apart from its philosophical content, it is misinterpreted by idealistic views. At the same time, at anthropological subjects, there’s a rejection of science, covered truth and raw propaganda of bourgeoisie ideology and policy.
3) All educational reforms that happened, apart from that of the government of free Greece during occupation and resistance in 1944, have the following characteristics:
a) They try to reduce studies in the Universities
b) They try to hold back the qualitative and quantitative growth of General Education.
c) They keep a favourable attitude towards the financially strong (big private schools having the capability to overcome any difficulties) and unfavourable attitude towards the education of our people (inferior state schools, unequal chances, controvertible attitude of the state to provide free education etc)
4) The last “educational reform” recycles old materials and through the administrative processes of school, tries to strengthen the mechanisms of social segregations. To be more specific, the aim is to reduce the increased requirement for qualitative education. By this way, using underground methods, it is bound to the attempt in 1926, which established the entrance-exams to the Universities and reached its top at the period 1929-1930 facing the problem of teachers’ unemployment. This situation went on during Metaxas’ dictatorship and after the liberation from Germans, going on from bad to worse, until it is nowadays proved, that this problem cannot be solved inside the crises of the capitalistic system. The basic characteristic of this attempt is the organized, gradual rejection of students away from Gymnasium towards Lyceum and from the middle grades of Lyceum. It is a policy according to the perspectives and targets of state-monopoly capitalism. At the same time, it is a policy, which objects to the general trend for expansion on the field of knowledge and does not agree with the common sense and the general interest of our people. From the beginning, the last “educational reformation”, is not only conservative but also reactive and that’s why it is going to be under constant doubt.
Result of this whole process, that we referred to in brief above, is that the social pyramid is maintained and renewed in favour of the bourgeoisie class and is unfavourable for the working class, which takes part into education, knowledge, and goods of schooling, in an unequal relation to its social role in the production of goods and civilization. We are not intended to consider as nothing, what has been achieved in the history of Greek education. On the contrary, we emphasize the greatness of the achievements that are doubted today (the state’s obligation for free education, the graduation of High School by the 80-90% of the gymnasium graduates, the connection of Bachelor Degree or Ptyhio to job rights etc), because they were achieved despite the will of those “in power”. We would like to underline that when people want something, they get the power and that the borders of education should not be the borders of bourgeoisie policies. Doubtless one could encounter progressive elements in the pedagogy of bourgeoisie class (in humanistic - classical tradition, some culture in the department of mathematics etc). However, all these have a relative and not an absolute value. For example, the classical - humanistic tradition is not a progressive element, in case Ancient Greek it is faced in a formalistic, raw, verbose way, while fertile creative elements can be found inside ancient literature. Frequently, great pedagogic intellectuals made an attempt to embody elements of democratic rebirth, (school of work, unified centralization teaching, school community etc) into a reactive school. But this attempt was walking on the rocks since it did not dispute the whole philosophy of the school system. The positive side of that attempt, is that pedagogic authority, that sometimes became a pedagogic fashion, was irreversibly hurt from this attempt and finally this controversy gave birth to radical sociopolitical changes. The results of such controversies, was the participation of great Greek intellectuals to the communist movement (Glynos, Papamauros, Imvrioti, Soteriou, Kokkalis, Athanasiadis, Alexiou, Ploumpidis etc), who turned the vision for public education into a political action and life attitude.
A.2. Substance of the problem: The class character of school
Nowadays, while Imperialism rules the whole world, while economy is through a crisis and while the workers movement inclines, the capitalists reject what the working class and oppressed populace have achieved in the past, in order to maintain and expand their financial and political power. That’s why the capitalistic countries establish rearrangements in accordance with commonly agreed policies in imperialistic organizations. What is urgent for the officially social and political authority of European Union (E.U.) is the “new theme”, which is competitiveness and control of social commotions. On one hand, they need workers to be disrupted and conquerable, ready to offer their work force free as well as their consciousness. On the other hand, they use very strict methods of choosing the elite, those who will be capable of gathering wealth without having any moral obstacles and who will be able to handle the whole system for capital’s sake.
And right here the first problem appears: the priority of Vocational Instruction over General Education. A less costing education, is more profitable for the ruling of the system and it teaches the working class of tomorrow the one and only meaning of life: to be profitable for the capital, to live without vocational consolidation, in poverty and face the most shameless exploitation. European Union’s educational ideal is the quick skills training, that in a great rate can happen without schooling and can be taken up by business men. So Basic’s Education’s subject matter is the technical and ideological preparation for the eternal Sisyphus’ torture, of “life-long training”. What is asked by schools is to make young people’s access into Vocational Training easier, starting as early as possible. Instead of expanding Basic-General Education, which is a real need of our people, and can be observed by the increasing number of students who want to attend lessons at Lyceums while there is a pursuit in reducing the number of these students and make them turn towards the system of Vocational Training. As a result, we have a real antithesis and we must abolish the ruling policy completely. Our suggestion has to clarify why and how the expansion of Basic-General Education must be a priority, a presupposition for vocational training. In other words, what kind of Basic Education, as it concerns its quality and quantity, the school should provide, so as to prepare young people for a better life.
A second problem for our education, is the division into separate successive levels (primary, lower secondary or gymnasium, and higher secondary or lyceum), which is connected to the unified of the educational process, and its differentiation is in accordance with the stages of a child’s growing. This issue, inside the bourgeoisie school, is faced through class expediency and through the division of school successive levels. This division into levels and kinds of education, which has appeared through its historical path, represents old-fashioned levels of social development. At modern times, whereby need for popular education is growing constantly, as it is required to last until a young person comes to the age of 18, the expansion of the basic body of education, poses the issue of a unified consideration and fulfillment in a more insisting way. Could we talk about Basic Education and expansion of the compulsory one, when we still keep on the division into levels and intensifying the class segregation for students? Is schooling of the three final years at Senior High School or as it is called Lyceum, will continue to be a separate school, available to those who would like to enter to Universities, or will it be embodied into a unified school, so as to be able to complete its pedagogical mission?
A third problem: the differentiation of the so called post-compulsory education. Years before, we had the differentiation between General and Techno-Vocational Education. Nowadays, the old same twin pair exists, although it is modified. It is the “United Lyceum” (entrance hall for Universities) and Technical Skills Institutions (TEE) (transitional level into vocational instruction). The evolution in the separation of the different kinds of education, shows that it follows and serves the social division: The segregation between General and Techno-Vocational education reflects the social segregation between mental and hand-work. In other words, it is between those who govern and serve workers’ exploitation, and those who become objects of exploitation. Handcraft work and technical education are for the proletariat, and for this reason its position is unequal as is thought to be inferior to General education. Bourgeoisie faces differently and keeps in contrast this issue: in one side is the problem of General Education and in the other side the problem of Techno-Vocational education. Thus an issue is raised: Two or one educational system? Are we going to organize Vocational Education to a parallel but separate system than that of the General Education or are we going to try to build up on the existed General, not only by expanding compulsory education, but also by enriching its content so as to ensure on one hand the personality’s spherical development and on the other hand to pose educational regulations that the vocational instruction which will follow to be in accordance with the demands for social progress?
If we accept the second solution, the one that corresponds to a social reality and which is not less scientific than the other, then other problems arise. For example, if the timetable in every kind of schooling is not enough so as the necessary syllabus to be completed, how could a broader content fit in the same timetable? The answer to this depends on a more general processing of this issue which could be carried on: in accordance with the targets and with the kind of the suggested school, with the priorities on student’s syllabus as well as with the methodology which should be in connection to the development of student’s will. In this way, functional illiteracy could be solved, since one of its characteristics is learning by heart without deep knowledge acquisition. Functional illiteracy starts from the fact that there is no organic and functional use of knowledge or a way of testing it into action and every-day life. This problem cannot be solved by adding subjects and lesson stuff, even if they are “practical” or one’s free choices. The Multi-branch Lyceum followed the same additional method, which reproduced inside them the categorization of students into sections and vocational branches, and the distribution of knowledge objects, without finally ensuring knowledge’s organic cohesion or the harmonic building up of young people’s personality. And this situation has come into a dead end, because of the schedule of the “United Lyceum”, whereby irrelative scientific or not objects of university faculties are mixed together into a narrow space, in order just to gain “fans” or “supporters”. At this schedule, even the most general subject, philosophy, is a subject of theoretical branch and it has as a result the preparatory afternoon lessons of private sector which deprive students from their right to have free time.
In Conclusion: Expansion of General Education and spherical development of personality, before any vocational specialization. Irrespective of social discriminations united character of pedagogy for all students, in a Unified School. Synthesis of theory and practice, science applied in life, by embodying elements of technological training into General Education so as to give a broader cultural and educative perspective. Reconstruction of the program, in order to be united and orientated towards a general view of nature and society and a harmonic development of emotional and mental side of young people. Development of student’s free will, not inside the microcosm of school, but inside society as well, together with productive action, which enriches human nature. We made an attempt to analyze the educational problem at its evolution and we presented these correlations, in order to conclude to our suggestion about a UNIFIED TWELVE-YEAR BASIC COMPULSORY SCHOOL. We are aware of the fact that this suggestion is in conflict with the directions of imperialistic centers and powerful capital. This is not an unreasonable choice. The educational biggest social problem is not a result of human mistakes and technocratic gaps, but it is a result of strategic choices of the ruling class. The capitalistic system in order to maintain its power imposes anti-educational policy, recycling class restrictions, sterile and abstract knowledge and privatization of schooling. Their policy expresses their interests. Our proposition is not addressed to them. Solution and exit of this problem lies somewhere else. The struggle for a school which edifies a stable and creative personality, offers education and mental cultivation to all Greek people, it is social and political, it is a struggle that has to be a matter of all the people themselves.
e-mail:cpg@int.kke.gr