Populist promises won’t bring about a modern education system

Consensus is crucial in certain key sectors for a country to achieve its full potential, and education is undeniably one of the most critical. Without a modern and competitive educational system, progress is limited. However, the education sector is also one where consensus is lacking. Recently, main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras promised to abolish the minimum entry requirement for universities. Although it sounds appealing and claims to address the concerns of ordinary people, it illustrates a key problem that the SYRIZA party faces in this sector. They are trapped in a trade union populism that is resistant to things like reform, performance evaluation, English-language postgraduate degrees, English lessons in kindergarten, and the establishment of model schools.

The changes that the party promises always tend to gravitate toward the lowest common denominator, such as...

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