With slogans and banners, protesters voiced their opposition to what they described as the continued downgrading of art schools in Greece.
In a statement calling for participation in the mobilisation, the Panhellenic Theatre and Spectacle Federation (POTHA) said that the creation of a Higher School of Performing Arts had been a core demand of artists for 40 years. However, it said the bill, submitted and brought to a vote through expedited procedures, did not meet their demands for the recognition of existing art schools as part of tertiary education, while also excluding film studies altogether.
POTHA said: ‘The request for the creation of a Higher School of Performing Arts has been a basic request of artists for forty years. However, we note that the draft law, which was submitted and is being voted on through expedited procedures, does not satisfy our requests for the classification of the above art schools as tertiary, bypassing the decision of the Council of State, while completely omitting film studies.’
The federation added that artists had repeatedly set out how they believed such a university should operate, particularly during the mass mobilisations against Presidential Decree 85/2022, and said these proposals had been presented both in person and in letters to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
According to POTHA, the central demands are the creation of an academic pathway into higher education and the recognition of three years of study for graduates of higher art schools instead of two. It argues that anything less would amount to a circumvention of the Council of State’s ruling on the equal recognition of their qualifications.
‘We observe that unfortunately our most critical requests were completely ignored and are not included in the draft law,’ the federation said.
It also criticised the limited scale of the proposed academic pathway, arguing that only a small number of graduates would be able to access free public higher education, while most would be pushed towards private universities or the Hellenic Open University, both of which involve tuition fees.
POTHA further said the bill continues to classify Higher Art School diplomas as post-secondary qualifications at level 5, again bypassing the Council of State’s ruling.
The federation is demanding the recognition of three, rather than two, years of study at higher art schools, the immediate withdrawal of Presidential Decree 85/2022, an increase in admissions to the Athens School of Performing Arts and other university music and theatre departments, the preservation of public higher artistic education schools, and the guarantee of pedagogical training so graduates can teach in primary and secondary education.
It is also calling for graduates of Higher Art Schools to be allowed to enter the Athens School of Performing Arts or related university departments directly into the seventh semester.
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