![](\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/greek-parliament-approves-private-foreign-universities-bucking-protests.jpg\")
Greece\u2019s parliament narrowly passed a bill early on Saturday that will allow foreign private universities to set up branches in the country, bucking weeks of protests by students who say the move will devalue degrees from public universities.<\/p>\n
The legislation was approved by 159 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament.Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said it will help reverse an exodus of tens of thousands of Greek students to universities abroad, a drag on an economy still recovering from a decade-long financial crisis.The bill will also help align Greece with the rest of the European Union and boost competition in higher education, he said in a speech to lawmakers.Students have been protesting peacefully for weeks against the bill. On Friday afternoon\u00a0thousands of students\u00a0rallied outside parliament holding banners reading \u201cno to private universities\u201d. A group of protesters who peeled off from the main group threw petrol bombs at police, who responded with teargas.\u201cWe are scared that \u2026 if we do manage to graduate we\u2019ll never be able to get a job anywhere,\u201d said Stratos Katselis, 25. \u201cNo young person today can make any kind of plan for the future. All we see are dead ends.\u201dThe university bill is part of a government reform agenda that also includes a same\u00a0sex marriage law\u00a0that was passed last month.Greece spends 3%-4% of its annual economic output on education, below the EU average. Mitsotakis, who won a second term in June last year, said the bill stipulated increased funding for state universities.Follow the
\nCyprus Mail on Google News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Greece’s parliament approved a bill allowing foreign private universities to establish branches in the country, despite student protests. The legislation passed with 159 votes in the 300-seat parliament. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis argued that the move would counter the trend of Greek students studying abroad and align Greece with European Union standards, enhancing competition in higher education. The bill is part of broader government reforms, including a recent same-sex marriage law. It also promises increased funding for state universities. Protests against the bill included a significant rally outside parliament, with some incidents of violence reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[426,3,26,405,379,1108,304,250,415,747,1109,487,185,429,184,577,720,1001,134],"class_list":["post-3585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-competition","tag-cyprus","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-eu","tag-foreign-private-universities","tag-funding","tag-google","tag-government","tag-greece","tag-higher-education","tag-incidents","tag-main","tag-marriage","tag-police","tag-protests","tag-rest","tag-universities","tag-violence"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n