The development

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The development of supplementary educational
institutions and educational mobility in
Greece by Nikolaos I. Liodakis nliodakis_at_wlu.ca
Department of Sociology Wilfrid Laurier
University Waterloo, ON, Canada
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This presentation will provide

• A terminology useful for examining Supplemental
  Education (SE) in Greece
• An analysis of the types of SE
• Information on the size and cost of SE
• Explanations for the development, entrenchment
  and expansion of SE
• A discussion of SE effects on student educational
  mobility which is based upon
• their parents socio-economic status
• their parents educational level
• students place of residence and gender.

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• Useful Terminology
• ?a?apa?de?a (para-pedia) para education, or
  shadow educational system

• F???t?st???? (frontistirio) the physical
  space/building where private (for profit)
  supplemental education takes place

• F???t?st???? (frontistirio) the process of
  delivering private supplemental education
• Supplemental Education (SE) in Greece
• Frontistiri-a (plural)
• Private lessons - ?d?a?te?a (idietera)

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Types of private supplemental education More
than 3,500 organized frontistiria country-wide,
depending on subject and level of education

• On foreign languages (mostly English, French,
  German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, etc).
• On regular school subjects other than foreign
  languages (mostly mathematics, physics,
  chemistry, modern and ancient Greek language,
  biology, economics, etc.), for two interrelated
  reasons
• To improve school grades
• To do well in university entrance exams

• For 3 educational levels elementary (grades
  1-6), junior high school (gymnasium, grades 7-9),
  and high school (lyceum, grades 10-12).
• Important distinction private schools not
  considered frontistiria

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Size and cost of supplemental education

• The size of the supplemental education sector in
  Greece is huge, in terms of
• The number of teachers it employs
• It is estimated that 50 of all employed teachers
  are employed in supplemental education
  institutions
• The of students who attend
• e.g., At the high school (Lyceum) level
• 1984 1993
• Frontistiria 54,6 65
• Private Lessons 09,4 30
• Total 64 95
• Today almost all Grade 12 high school students
  attend SE

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Size and cost of supplemental education

• SE in Greece is a huge (profitable) industry.
• Recent reliable data (2007) on educational
  expenditures
• National (state) expenditures, in
  7,034,294,592
• All private household expenditures 4,924,411,934
• European Union annual contributions 1,510,045,263
  
• Supplemental education costs for households are
  estimated at
• 1,7 billion per annum.
• It is 35 of all private household educational
  expenditures.

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Size and cost of supplemental education

• State educational expenditures as of GNP
• 2005 3.19
• 2007 3.07
• Expenditures on supplemental education as of
  family income
• 1994-1999 4.79
• 2000-2005 5.19
• Family expenditures by type and level of
  supplemental education

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Why frontistiria in Greece?

• Causes for the emergence and continued expansion
  of SE in
• Greece include
• The nature of the Greek educational system, in
  terms of its structure and orientation (entrance
  exams), (dys-) functions and outcomes (results)
• The role of the state as educational provider and
  employer
• The prevalent ideology on the socio-economic role
  of education (cultural obsession)
• The nature and (perceived) effectiveness of SE in
  accessing post-secondary education and in
  knowledge acquisition
• The actual relationship between educational
  attainment, employment, income and social status

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The Greek Educational System

• The nature of the Greek educational system is
  very competitive, especially at the high school
  level (Lyceum)
• Also highly unstable, i.e., educational
  reforms are frequent (one Minister per annum),
  but not necessarily successful
• System is exam-centred, not knowledge-centred.
  Main problem is the country-wide, annual
  university entrance exams
• Fewer positions than applicants
• Unbalanced, irrational distribution of available
  university positions in terms of student demand
  (not of the market) for certain fields of study
  and supply of available positions in those
  fields. This leads to increased competition
  among students.

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Regional Educational Imbalances

• Regional distribution of positions and quality of
  Universities
• Available university and college positions in
  high demand fields (medicine, law school,
  teachers college, computers, business) are fewer
  than the student demand (not necessarily fewer
  than the market demand)
• These are found in urban, prestigious
  Universities (Athens, Salonika, Crete, Patras,
  etc.)
• Greater numbers of university and college
  positions are available in regional universities
  and colleges (Aegean, Thessaly, Ionian Islands,
  Epirus, etc.), but in fields that are not in high
  demand, so students do not want to go there.
  E.g., floriculture and landscaping, textile
  studies, aquaculture, livestock studies, early
  childhood education, folk music, etc.

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The Greek State, Education and Employment

• Since 1960s, role of the state as provider of
  employment has increased, expected given the size
  of the private sector
• Today, state has to deal with immense
  socio-political and economic pressures to provide
  employment for qualified university graduates
  (considered a right of graduates)
• Size of SE creates employment opportunities for
  graduates, eases demands on state employment
  (working conditions a different issue)
• State policy on SE contradictory rhetoric of
  dismantling parapedia, policies that encourage it
  and increase its necessity and size, e.g.,
  difficult entrance exams, more subjects,
  intensification of educational process,
  competition.

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Ideology on Education a cultural obsession?

• Clear class and political character of education
  prior to 1964 reforms (free education, accessible
  to all)
• Historically, post-secondary education associated
  with higher social status, prestige, employment
  in the public sector, higher income, etc.
• Competition for access to post-secondary
  education great, so a scarce and valuable
  resource
• Nature of Greek economy, regional disparities,
  agricultural and urban economies
• The Greek (lower and middle class) dream or
  better, obsession I want my kids to go to
  University and become doctors, lawyers, teachers

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The Nature and Effectiveness of SE

• SE is well-organized as a system, more functional
  than the state (public) system
• More flexible and more adaptive than the formal
  state system (e.g., class size, adoption of
  non-text based materials, use of computers,
  internet, other technologies, study of
  interesting subjects, etc.)
• More effective in improving grades and in
  preparing students for university entrance exams
  (84.7 SE yes, 2.5 public yes)

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The Nature and Effectiveness of SE

• More effective in advising students about
  immediate university field choices and future
  employment opportunities (called vocational
  orientation)
• SE has become more important in educational
  mobility than the public system
• Not all SE institutions are effective. Usually,
  the higher the fees the better the quality of SE
  provided
• SES of parents is important for students
  accessing better SE institutions, and therefore
  accessing university positions
• Geography is also important. There is a clear
  gap between rural areas and urban centres in both
  access to and quality of SE institutions

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The Nature and Effectiveness of SE

• Parents education is also important. The higher
  their education the higher their kids
  educational success
• Gender of students does not matter in university
  access, but it does matter in field of study
  choices
• SE part of larger society and economy
• Not egalitarian
• Reproduces initial SES inequalities
• Tends to increase the gap between urban/rural
  students that is usually also an income and
  social class gap
• Post-secondary education is more likely to lead
  to employment, higher income, prestige, etc.

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The Future of SE

• Evidence of decrease of intensification of
  entrance exams
• New government proposes 4 instead of 6 exam
  subjects, less material to cover
• Also proposes to increase value of secondary
  diploma, disassociate secondary education and
  entrance exams, give more authority to
  Universities to decide entrance process
• Economic burden on families increasing, given the
  current situation political pressures on
  government increasing, but
• Unless some drastic and effective socio-political
  action takes place, no immediate or substantial
  changes are foreseen

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