Symbolic schools of the Greek language universities, with recognized academic work and strong degrees in the labor market, take on the burden of “collateral” admission every year, from transfers and … other categories with social or other criteria. “We are asking for 50 applicants through national exams, initially 100 are appointed by the Ministry of Education, and in the end we get … 200,” university professors in “K” emphasize.

“We risk overcrowding the halls and auditoriums,” says NTUA rector Andreas Butuvis. Characteristically, based on the latest data from universities, in Athenian medicine 165 were admitted to the Panhellenic examinations, and the final number of those accepted by the school reached 360, an increase of 118.2%.

They had a similar problem Athens Law School (final student enrollment was 796, up 102.5% from the original 393), NTUA Schools – with the most in-demand, Computers now burdened: The initial number was 184 and the final number was 279, an increase of 71%. The situation is the same with the respective schools of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the specialized Athens University of Economics.

In Greece, social policy is implemented through special reception categories. The issue will be raised at the next meeting of the Synod of Rectors in connection with the determination of admissions to universities for the 2023-2024 academic year with a request to rationalize the situation.

There are a total of 12 categories of applicants that the school can accept, not counting those who are admitted to national examinations, the number of which is set annually by the Ministry of Education. Among the 12 – transferable (with four subcategories), children of Greeks living abroad, allogeneic foreigners, scientists, athletes, through special examination tickets, through the transfer of a place from the relevant departments of the university. The most numerous category is transfers from regional to central universities.

“The decision to exclusively admit these candidates to universities is made for special reasons, such as social, academic or national”, An employee of the Ministry of Education told K.. However, the overgrowth of students is “paid for” by high-demand schools that struggle to maintain the level of education. “The maximum number of enrollments that the Ministry has been asking universities to offer for years, but constantly ignoring, determines the possibility of an excellent education for students, of which laboratories are an important component at the National Technical University of Athens. It is clear that the labs require a physical presence and cannot be replaced in any way through distance learning or other methods.” the rector of the institution, Andreas Buduwis, observes in “K”.. “Some of those who transfer to NTUA usually experience even serious difficulties in fulfilling the requirements of the educational program at the level of “ordinary” NTUA students, that is, those who enter through the pan-Greek entrance exams. This situation leads to an increase in the number of students failing exams when the bar is set at a reasonable level and, as a result, to an increase in the average teaching time. Otherwise, the educational program must change its level, i.e. downgrade it. Do we want it? he adds.

Characteristically, there were 1092, 986, 1010 and 1001 applicants who passed the Panhellenic Examinations at NTUA in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively, while the institution offered the Ministry 750. Taking into account transfers and other special categories, they were admitted were 1984 (in 2019), 1784 (in 2020), 1774 (in 2021) and 1546 (in 2022). That is, the increase in the total number of students due to the addition of “other categories” has fluctuated in recent years from 82% in 2019 to 55% in 2022.

High-demand faculties of the University of Athens, such as medicine and law, end up with more than double the number of students accepted in the Panhellenic examinations, in which the increase is over 100%. In addition, in the Department of Psychology, 167 admissions on transfers reached 300. In total, the institution admitted 6,020 people in the Panhellenic examinations, and 8,519 people in other categories, with an average increase of 41.5%.

Distortion

“We are in danger of overcrowding the halls and auditoriums,” says NTUA rector Andreas Butuvis.

“The state appears to be demanding a heavy academic load from us, but our student population far exceeds what it says we can teach. This is a distortion. At EKPA, we have a serious problem, as the number of our professors is decreasing, while the number of students is increasing excessively,” Thanos Dimopoulos, rector of the University of Athens, said in an interview with K.

“The constant reduction in the number of teachers, combined with the large number of admissions beyond those admitted through the Greek exams, creates numerous distortions in the day-to-day running of the school,” said Linos-Alexandros Sisilianos, Dean of the Athens School of Law. “TO” . “Of course, I understand the social aspect of this measure. However, each year adding 350 students from more than ten categories to the original 400 accepted through national examinations is unbearable, despite the enormous efforts we all make to cope. The percentage of imported non-Greek ships must be sharply and immediately reduced, otherwise the situation is likely to become unmanageable,” he adds.

At AUTH, the number of students admitted to medicine with Greek examinations is 150-155 per year. To these are added 35-40 students of the military medical faculty and 150-155 students enrolled in 16 special categories, that is, a total of 350 students in each course of study. 391 candidates are admitted to the AUTH Faculty of Law from pan-Greek courts and 562 graduates (an increase of 43.8%).

“Each year, the Athens University of Economics and Business requests about 1,000 students in accordance with the prevailing educational and logistical conditions and in order to maintain a good student-faculty ratio,” says the rector of the institution, Dimitris Burantonis. “TO”. In the 2021-2022 academic year, the Ministry of Education decided to admit 1563 students to the Faculty of Finance, and in 2022-2023 to admit 1527 students, i.e. 50% more than the amount requested by the school. Finally, the number of students admitted in 2021-2022 out of 1563 reached 1728, and in 2022-2023 from 1527 to 1773 people. “OPA’s constant requirement is to reduce the number of appointments in order to maintain the quality of educational work and have a ratio of teachers and students that will meet international standards for the quality of education,” emphasizes Mr. Burandonis. .

Information “K” says that the situation will not change, as the Ministry of Education seeks to establish enrollment at the level of last year. For the 2022-2023 academic year, 68,394 places were allocated at universities, without about 2,000 in the schools of the army, police, fire service, coast guard, merchant marine. Of course, this number can be slightly increased due to the work of two new faculties of the Thracian University of Democritus.

Meeting of Chancellors

The issue of additional applicants to central universities will be raised with the leadership of the Ministry of Education at the next meeting of rectors. “It is necessary to rationalize the number of receptions with a possible redistribution. The goal is to limit the number of central universities, and to transfer the rest of the accepted students to regional universities,” said Andreas Floros, rector of the Ionian University and chairman of the session, in an interview with K. Moreover, according to Mr. Buduvy, “in In schools with high demand and corresponding performance of applicants, such as NTUA, the minimum base of acceptance is not practical Transfers go against the establishment of a minimum base and are extremely unfair to those applicants who, due to the minimum base, find themselves outside the schools of their choice , even if they perform better than others who place in these schools with an advantage in transfers and other categories.”

The student-teacher ratio is getting worse

According to international practice, each university sets its own number of applicants who are accepted based on the results of exams. Candidates apply to certain universities without the possibility of transfer to another. “At the same time, each university also has a range of scholarships for candidates who meet financial, social or academic criteria and want the university to accept them,” Vassilis Leontytsis, a lecturer at his university, who broadcasts the British test for Brighton, told K. In contrast, in Greece, the presence of many categories of applicants leads to the fact that high-demand university schools that accept additional candidates require an increase in both the number of professors and their public funding.

“We ask the Ministry of Education, when determining new teaching positions allocated to universities, to take into account the increase in the number of students from transfer and other categories in each university,” the rector of the University of Athens and professor of notes to “K” of the Thanos Dimopoulos Foundation School of Medicine. After all, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of each school.

“The teacher-student ratio in Aristotelian Medicine is 1:6. That is, the ratio is the same as at Harvard and Columbia Universities in the USA and better than at Oxford (1:10) and Sorbonne (1:15). However, it is not correct to compare the figures of Medicine with the average university figures. In medical research, the proportions were and should be different. In Oregon, for example, the ratio is 1:1, in Tokyo 1:1.7. I should note that there are several medical schools in Japan where the student-faculty ratio is 0.9. The acceptable ratio in the world is 1:5, which we also strive for, ”Kyriakos Anastasiadis, president of the AUTH School of Medicine, comments.

In addition to the teaching and research work of professors of medicine, there is also a clinic that is both educational and nursing. As Mr. Anastasiadis adds, “this is why the institutional arrangements are for the double academic work of university doctors, and this is why there are two ministries that oversee us. It also results in a “disproportionately” greater need for real support from competent staff for the educational, research, clinical, and human resources functions of medical schools compared to other university schools. The main problem today is the reduction in the number of teachers who do not occupy the minimum positions approved by the ministry. And instead of the Department increasing those positions, we professors are left arguing in the Senate about how to distribute the already fewer teaching positions that we all really need, while at the same time we are being asked to consider a new strategic plan for the university. “