For the political will to find a solution to the problem artist’s degree the government says, and the artists assess the government’s attitude as complete inaction and delaying politics until the elections. During a meeting with artists’ representatives yesterday, Deputy Minister of Education in charge of higher education, Angelos Sirygos, confirmed that joint committees would be set up to study the polynomial chaos driving art research, as well as the claims for excellence of theater, dance and music schools. However, the other side finds a dead end. It is also significant that students of the Drama School of the National Theater as well as his State Theater of Northern Greece occupied for several weeks, at the same time, 18 private theater schools filed a petition with the State Council to cancel the disputed P.D. 85/2022.

According to with information from “K”, there is a growing position among artists that in order to enhance art education, and by expanding their professional rights both for the private sector and for the state, theater schools, dance schools and conservatories should be transferred to the Ministry of Education, and not to the Ministry of culture. This is a key moment to remove the legal deadlock and obstacles. And this is precisely because the fact that art schools are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture, and not the Ministry of Education, was the formal reason that the implementation of the conclusion of the committee of individuals created under the Ministry of Education by Marietta Yannakou in 2004, chaired by director Theodoros Terzopoulos . Committee members (revealingly Vassilis Papavasileu, Rula Pateraki) were surprised to discover in 2007 that the detailed work done at that time would essentially end up gathering dust in a drawer, because art schools could not “leave” the Ministry of Education. Today, the idea is reportedly brewing among artists as to whether this could allow for the establishment of a University of the Performing Arts, or related separate departments, within existing universities.

For his part, Mr. Sirigos yesterday reiterated that the contested presidential decree, which provides that artists can enter ASEP competitions as high school graduates, cannot be withdrawn because their degrees are not assessed on an eight-point scale of professional qualifications.

Among artists, the position is being strengthened that schools should be taken over by the Ministry of Education in order to improve their skills.

Escalation of mobilizations

Artist representatives are now officially talking about increased mobilization. Such as said “K” General Secretary of the Union of Greek Actors, Aris Laskos, the union will meet tomorrow, with the possibility of a strike being considered as a means of pressure, as well as a legal action to cancel the DP. with an application to be submitted to the Council of Ministers by creative unions after the respective movement of private theater schools. “There was no answer to any of our requests. Even instead of Mr. Sirygos’s argument that P.D. this concerns several people and does not change anything – that is, when we asked ourselves why the decree on the specialties of artists is not repealed – there was no clear answer,” Mr. Laskos said, adding that the Ministry of Education “has shifted all responsibility” to the joint committees that will be created, but not knowing if it will participate, and also if they will be composed of well-known personalities , social partners, or both. Meanwhile, the union actor told K that “a strike lasting more than a day will give us an opportunity to measure our strength.”

According to with information from “K” from the Ministry of Culture, the formation of joint committees that will deal with the promotion and classification of art education is an undertaking requiring the cooperation of various institutions, and their composition can be announced within a week, as soon as the “locks” of open questions are determined. In any case, the same sources emphasize, the responsibility of the committees will be to consult with the social partners on an institutional basis and on a regular basis.