2024-03-15 06:44:09
After the passage of the bill in the Parliament, the way is opened for the first annexes to start operating in 2025. At least 10 universities from the US and Europe have contacted the Ministry of Education and are exploring their next moves. The terms and conditions for obtaining a license to operate higher education institutions from abroad. What will apply to teaching staff and students.
A double “descent” from foreign higher educational institutions is being prepared in our country, after the passage of the bill for non-state universities by the Parliament. The first “descent” is already underway, as large and renowned institutions abroad have expressed interest in organizing joint postgraduate programs with Greek universities, while major European and American universities are already preparing for the second “descent” ahead of the start of the of the law on the establishment of the annexes, i.e. the academic year 2025.
In this context, it is of particular interest that the new law establishes and finances joint programs of Greek and foreign universities with 60 million euros from the Recovery Fund. There is already great interest in these programs and collaborations between Greek and American universities are already underway.
For example, the famous Yale University is preparing joint master’s degrees with the Greek Technical University and the Columbia University of New York with the NTUA, while Purdue University from Indiana (the third US public university in the relevant ranking) has also expressed interest in joint master’s degrees with Greek universities ) but also the University of California, the famous UCLA. According to information from sources in the Ministry of Education, several more American, English and French universities are preparing to submit proposals for the financing of joint master’s degrees from the Recovery Fund.
They showed interest
The second “descent” will concern the establishment of branches of already operating universities based abroad, as provided by the law passed by the Parliament last Friday. Already, since the beginning of the year, more than 10 universities in Europe and the USA have expressed interest in operating a branch in Greece. This interest has already been expressed to the Ministry of Education and Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, who, however, does not disclose which institutions they are, as he is bound by confidentiality clauses.
It is known, however, and “R” has already written about it, that the institution that has already decided to establish a branch in Greece is the well-known Sorbonne University. The French were waiting for the legislative process to be completed and are now expected to proceed with the submission of the relevant application to the Ministry of Education. From the discussions and briefings that the French have given to the competent services of the Ministry of Education, it appears that the organization that will undertake to implement the Sorbonne branch in our country will be the French Institute, which, like the Sorbonne University, is a public French institution. The non-state university that will be created will be French-speaking and will be located where the French Institute is currently located, on rue Sina. The public University of the Sorbonne is not a “pioneer” in this process, since it already operates a branch in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, since 2006.
The Ministry of Education has not provided information, as it is bound by the confidentiality clauses, however information is also wanted that a second famous foreign university is considering the possibility of proceeding with the establishment of a branch in our country. It is the American private Johns Hopkins University based in Baltimore, which already operates a branch in Bologna, Italy. According to information, the plan here is to create a branch with a single school, Medicine, which will supply Europe with doctors.
The creation of a non-state university with only one faculty is exceptionally allowed under the law passed on Friday. While for the annexes it is true that, in order to receive the permit, they must consist of at least three schools with at least one study program for each of them, in article 142 of the bill it is stated that “exceptionally and if the parent institution occupies one of the first 20 places in an internationally recognized world ranking of universities, its branch may consist of at least one faculty with at least one degree program”. Johns Hopkins is on that list, and high in the rankings.
The European University of Cyprus has also expressed interest in opening a branch in Greece, but, according to information from “R”, also a large British university. A special role in all these movements and speculations is played, according to information, by Greek university professors who are considering the possibility of expressing their interest in establishing branches in Greece. They are the ones who closely monitor the development of legislation in Greece and, usually, after their own proposal, the authorities of the universities in which they work initiate the procedures that lead to the expression of interest.
Abroad branches are not unknown in the international university scene. Well-known American and British universities already operate branches abroad (the British public universities of Nottingham and Southampton – in Malaysia and China – and a number of American universities, among them the famous private Rochester, St Johns, Duke, Webster and Yale) .
The terms and conditions for granting an operating license
The law takes effect from the academic year 2025, which means that the first branches will be operational from September next year
The speed shown by the Council of State is the factor that will determine the timetable for the establishment of branches of non-profit, non-state universities in the country, should the law be found constitutional.
The government is aware that, after the passage of the bill by Parliament last Friday, there will be immediate appeals to the Council of State, which will denounce the unconstitutionality of the bill. The Minister of Education Kyriakos Pierrakakis himself admitted this, when during the session in the Parliament he estimated that the fate of the bill will be decided by the highest administrative courts of the country.
The assessment of judicial circles is that the Council of State could, with a rapid procedure, proceed to issue a decision within a few months (possibly next September), depending on the nature of the appeal and the issues that the court will be asked to investigate.
If the estimate for a decision within months is confirmed, then within 2025 the first branches of non-state universities could be established in the country. The law takes effect from the academic year 2025, which means that the first branches will be operational from September of this year.
In any case, the government’s major goal is the revision of Article 16 of the Constitution, which will define the final framework for higher education. This was essentially announced by Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself from the Parliament on Friday, saying that, in any case, the review of article 16 will be launched and those who disagree remain supporters of fixation and, above all, devotees of inaction.
The debate on the Constitutional Review can be opened from January 2025 onwards, when the five years since the previous Review are completed, turning the present Parliament into a proposer. In order to complete the Review, there will have to be elections and a new vote in the next Parliament, the review one.
The big goal is none other than 180, i.e. the number of votes that should be reached either in the proposing or revising Parliament in order to revise any article. On this basis, if early elections are not called, the Review is estimated to be completed by the end of 2027.
In his speech on Friday, Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke of a radical change in Greek education and of a brave reform of development and social justice. The prime minister emphasized that the bill primarily strengthens the public university, but at the same time, it creates the framework so that, finally, non-state, non-profit institutions can operate in our country, while the initiative aspires to include Greece on the international educational map as a dynamic educational center in the wider area of the south-eastern Mediterranean.
The bill establishes strict criteria for the establishment and operation of branches of recognized foreign universities in our country, which will operate in the form of the Legal Entity for University Education (NLPE) and will be of a non-profit nature, a necessary condition to approve the relevant legislation the CoE. A second safety valve for the bill to “pass” the CoE is the minimum admission basis required of prospective students at these institutions, which means that those who decide to study will have to take Panhellenic exams or have IB.
Rules
The Minister of Education emphasized in his interventions that the law has a solid constitutional basis and added that with this initiative the government establishes rules and the framework for the anarchic landscape of post-secondary education, which it had been dragged into by European decisions, and thus regains sovereignty in this landscape. The law sets very strict conditions for the establishment and operation of non-state universities, the strictest in Europe.
The minimum cost for the establishment of such a branch amounts to 2 million euros, which is broken down into a cost of 500,000 euros for each of the three schools that the “parent” HEI will necessarily establish in cooperation with the Greek university foundation and 500,000 euros for the submission of the operating license application. This obligation is reduced by 50% if the branch is located in the region. Each institution is required to have a teaching staff, 80% of whose members must hold a doctorate in a subject related to the subject of teaching and be approved by the parent institution. Their number cannot be lower than 30 for a three-faculty institution with a prescribed teaching limit of 12 hours per week, while the parallel employment of public university teaching staff in non-state, non-profit institutions will not be allowed. The law sets strict conditions for both the study programs and the logistical infrastructure of the institutions and obliges them to carry out research and grant 10% of their places in scholarships.
Source Realnews
By P. GALIATSATOU, G. LYKOURENTZOU – SOURCE: