Kyriakos Pierrakakis

An online platform established to address violence and bullying in Greek schools has already received 41 complaints since its launch less than one week ago, Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said on Monday.

Seeking to tackle the rise in cases of bullying, the government has announced a series of preventive measures which include, among others, stricter penalties for students for acts of violence at school and parents' co-responsibility for their children's actions.

The traditional student parade to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the Greek Revolution in 1821 has been held in Athens.

Crowds of spectators lined the streets to watch the parade, which passed the reviewing platform in front of Parliament on Syntagma Square.

Officials attending included Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis and Athens Mayor Charis Doukas.

As the dust settles after Parliament passed the new education bill on non-state institutions of higher education on Friday, the major question is how this will impact Greece's ultimate aspiration of becoming an education hub in the southeast Mediterranean.

To be fair, the previous significant Education Ministry reform, under a PASOK government, concerning partnerships between Greek and foreign universities, didn't yield substantial results.

Parliament on Friday is expected to approve the Education Ministry's bill allowing, under conditions, the operation, for the first time in Greece, branches of foreign universities.

The vote, however, will not be without discord as it will be accompanied by the culmination of major mobilizations outside the Parliament building in central Athens.

Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said on Wednesday that lawmakers had dismissed the five objections submitted by opposition MP questioning the constitutionality of a bill allowing the establishment of private universities.

The minister said the objections were refuted by the parliament's Scientific Service.

A draft legislation by the ruling Conservatives that would enable the establishment of private universities in Greece received five objections regarding its constitutionality as soon as it was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.

Ten prestigious international universities have expressed keen interest in establishing branches in Greece, according to Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis in an interview with the Proto Thema Sunday newspaper.

After the expected ratification of the bill on the establishment of non-state universities around the end of February, Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis is preparing to embark on a springtime tour of Western Europe and the US.