Full makeover for the educational system in Greece

The Lyceum will be transformed into a school of gradual specialization. According to the changes that were announced by the Ministry of Education, the 1^st year of Lyceum will be of general education with obligatory classes and the 2^nd year will have two “directions”, whilst the number of classes will decrease from 17 to 12. In the 3^rd year the “directions” will be three, and the classes will decrease from 16 to 10, but the teaching hours will increase.

Research papers, a common practice in many countries but not in Greece, will finally be intergrated in all three years of the Lyceum. The student will have to present one every 4 months, and one of them could possibly be in English. The lesson of history will be obligatory for all three years of the Lyceum, whilst Religious Studies will be obligatory only for the two years and an elective subject for the third year.

According to the Minister of Education, Mrs Anna Diamantopoulou, the format of university entry exams will change and they will not require students to write passages from memory or learned by heart. The exams will take place at central exam schools and with procedures that will ensure the legality of the results. Universities will define the weighting for each subject that the students are examined on.
 
”The whole three years are important” replied the Minister when asked if the marks of all three years will count for university entry. The new legislation will be announced after Easter. The changes will be implemented after September.