01-09-16  Education Ministry dismisses main opposition criticism

Yesterday New Democracy suffered a stinging political defeat in Parliament, as it insisted along with Golden Dawn on sterile negativism, voting down provisions of a bill that restore legality to private education, which bring only benefits to students, their families, and good private schools. In this way, the main opposition party presented its credentials in the field of education, favouring impunity and illegality. Beyond the unlawful TV station owners and all manner of oligarchs, New Democracy has also cultivated tender relations with that portion of school owners who operate as pirates in private education.

The same day, as parliament debated the bill, Mr. Mitsotakis chose, hiding in the secure space of Facebook, to take a stand on an issue lacking substance, that of Institutional Councils of universities, which was not part of the bill and for which the government bears not even the slightest responsibility.

This is an obvious diversionary tactic and an effort aiming to disorient the discussion away from issues on which the nakedness of his party and the identity crisis of New Democracy are obvious. A similarly cheap ruse by New Democracy was the fuss they made about the supposed return of “eternal” university students, concealing the fact that the provision passed pertained only to students who have not been expelled or who for whatever reasons did not renew their registration for two consecutive semesters.

We will not follow Mr. Mitsotakis’ furious efforts to create an opposition agenda that suits him, jumping from issue to issue when he finds that his predictions of disaster are belied one after the other, as is the misery with which he deals with educational issues.

Whether Mr. Mitsotakis (or those para-union circles attempting to impede the smooth start of the new school year) like it or not, on Monday, September 12, schools will open normally after many years, and this will signal the step-by-step return of the country to normalcy and the exit from the [bailout] memorandum impasse.