A group of 41 student union presidents from Athens and Thessaloniki have sent an open letter to the Minister for Education, Sofia Zacharaki, criticising the government for promoting a distorted image of violence in universities while ignoring the deeper, more pressing issues plaguing higher education – particularly the chronic lack of funding.

In their letter, the students argue:

“It’s your policies that are creating the real violence and lawlessness. Real ‘violence’ is denying thousands of students the right to a proper education because the cost of studying keeps rising. Rents have become unaffordable, and only 6% of students have access to university accommodation. As a result, one in two students is forced to work alongside their studies just to get by. Real ‘insecurity’ is what your policies cause – leaving us to study in outdated, often unsafe facilities, in campuses and halls with no proper fire safety or earthquake protection. We’re travelling every day on unreliable, potentially dangerous public transport. We face growing obstacles in our academic path, with zero support. And now, you’re adding to our stress by threatening to wipe away our hard work and sacrifices with policies on student expulsion.”

The students accuse the government of seizing on isolated and unacceptable incidents – incidents that have already been condemned and rejected by the university community – as a pretext to attack student movements as a whole.

“The measures you announced in your meeting with university rectors target all students – those of us who care about our education, who speak out when things go wrong, who demand better learning conditions and degrees that actually hold value. You are choosing a dangerous path of authoritarianism. How far are you prepared to go in your assault on our rights?”

They go on to question the government’s intentions:

“Will you go so far as to scrap the presumption of innocence, handing out automatic two-year suspensions based on nothing more than an accusation? Will you use disciplinary action to lump student protests together with unrelated incidents? Will you accuse those who stand up for free public education of ‘disrupting academic order’? Will you target students who oppose the introduction of tuition fees, rising rents in student accommodation, or those who demand that their degrees mean something? Are you going to penalise students who take part in demonstrations, like the tens of thousands of us who marched on 28 February after the Tempe train tragedy and closed down our campuses in protest?”

Their key demands are:

  • Withdraw the proposed legislation introducing punitive measures targeting student activism.
  • Repeal Law 4957/22, which includes repressive disciplinary provisions against students.
  • Increase state funding for universities – to hire more lecturers and staff, modernise labs, and repair facilities.
  • Introduce proper support measures for all students and scrap the provision allowing for student expulsion.
  • Reject the downgrading of university degrees by preventing the creation of private universities, halting plans for fast-track 3-year courses that would weaken undergraduate studies, and ensuring teaching qualifications remain part of degree programmes.
  • Address the student housing crisis urgently, by guaranteeing free accommodation, significantly raising the student housing allowance, and building new halls of residence without resorting to public-private partnerships or rent charges.

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