The Reform Effort in Education is a Common Vision

Following is an interview with Mrs. Lida Zampetaki, Regional Director for Primary and Secondary Education in Crete. She gives us her own point of view as the District Director, about what she believes is one of her basic roles – to encourage parents, students and teachers to build relationships of trust and to compliment each other's roles for the good of the young people.

How do you perceive the education situation, and are you satisfied with the Greek reality?

Despite taking some important steps in the past few years, we continue to fall short in an area where we should have been starring.  Our Education lacks quality and is not competitive. It is knowledge that can improve drastically the future of our society and its citizens. Education, a basic ingredient for growth, is an investment for a Europe that aspires to be the most competitive economy in the world. And we don't want Greece to stay behind in such an effort. Several dialogues are under way and are proceeding exceptionally well. 

How do you believe that adverse fortune on education issues can be dealt with, more effectively, and who do you consider are the culprits?

The need for an essential, bold and long range reform is ripe. Even today, important parametres like competition, motives, meritocracy and evaluation of educators, that exist in other education systems, are absent from ours and that has a negative impact for our youth. We believe that, the reform effort that has begun will not cure weaknesses in our system radically, but it can be applied to our entire education spectrum; supported of course by the triptych of quality-evaluation-resources.  

How do you envision the area of education?

We work with a common vision: the sculpturing of the Greek citizen in a Europe without borders; a citizen with a free and all-around personality, with critical thought, capable of competing on an equal level with the citizens of other EU states. We believe that the qualitative development of our educational system must be supported on certain axes: High school reform; changing our access system to the third level education; connecting education with the productive process and the job market; the pursuit of new technologies; learning-through-living programmes; the smooth integration of immigrants' children into the school community and in the Greek society and finally the intercultural relations but without losing the main elements which compose our national identity, our language, our history and our Greco-orthodox tradition.

Where do you consider your own contribution to be effective and satisfactory, in your effort to fulfill your vision?

We participate in the National dialogue for Education, submitting our proposals through the daily educational process. We support the reform efforts, promoting innovation throughout the spectrum of the primary and secondary education in our region. We manage correctly our personnel and available resources and we encourage parents, students and teachers to build relations of trust and work together for the good of our young.