Deputy Education Minister Yiannis Panaretos on Monday briefed President Karolos Papoulias on the ministry's efforts to deal with problems such as nepotism, lack of transparency and even plagiarism that have been observed in Greek universities.
He said the government was trying to establish transparency, meritocracy and the same academic standards for research in universities that also apply abroad, noting that the effort had supporters but also some opposition within academic circles.
The minister stressed that the efforts were not to universally downgrade academics but to restrict bad practices while promoting the good ones.
"The Greek people and Greek tax payers pay that we may have free education and to support research and we have an obligation to make sure that the available funds, which are now fewer, are used in the best possible way," he said.
The president showed great interest in the investigation, noting that this was an issue that was also among the priorities of the prime minister.
(ANA)
