Important students’ mobilizations in Greece
| Big university students’ mobilizations are underway in Greece with mass demonstrations, sit-ins of the faculties and other forms of struggle and protest. The mobilizations have been triggered by a reform plan announced by the government that further undermines the public character of the universities and the students’ rights and have acquired significant dimensions. |
Only during the last week more that 12.000 university students participated in demonstrations, while general assemblies of the students’ unions took place in 150 faculties with the participation of more than 45.000 students. Around 200 faculties (that correspond to approximately 140 students’ unions) are under recurrent occupations by the students while a national-wide mobilization has been called for Thursday 8th of June. For Friday June 9th there have been announced local demonstrations in various cities and towns of Greece.
PAME and several class oriented trade unions and federations have taken an active stance in support of the students, promoting joint initiatives with them and organizing visits at workplaces and other initiatives at the enterprises in order to inform and mobilize the workers.
The struggles focus on the governmental bill for the “reform” of higher education, the discussions for the abolition of the article 16 of the constitution that defines and safeguards the exclusively public character of the highest education, demanding unified highest education public and gratis, and decent jobs with rights for all.
In a communiqué the KKE’s District Organization of Universities and Technological Institutions of Athens invites all students, professors and workers in the Universities to join their efforts against the policies of ND – PASOK and EU so that the bill will not submitted to the parliament and calls for a further escalation of the struggles.
The KKE calls upon all workers, students, teachers to participate actively in the ongoing struggle in order:
- to stop the new law promoting reactionary changes in the legal framework for higher education
- to counter the attempts for the abolition of article 16 of the constitution
- to revoke all reactionary measures already imposed by the governments of ND and PASOK implementing the guidelines of the Lisbon and Bologna processes.
- to abolish any private and business-driven activity in the field of education
- to demand a Unified Highest Education public, free of charge, at the service of the people’s interests
- to guarantee degrees that will have weight, and will constitute the only prerequisite for working in the relevant scientific field; for jobs with rights
Info by the International Section
e-mail:cpg@int.kke.gr