Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias visited today the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, where he met with the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs Niki Kerameus.
During the meeting, the two Ministers discussed multiple fields of cooperation and common interest, ascertaining that an outward-looking tertiary education is a shared priority and goal.
More specifically, they discussed the actions undertaken to modernise and digitalise education, placing special emphasis on enhancing the outward-looking character of the education system. Ms. Kerameus referred extensively to the international synergies of Greek universities through academic programmes, such as the “International Academic Partnership Program – Greece”, which was jointly inaugurated in September 2019 by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs and the Institute of International Education (IIE) to promote collaboration between U.S. and Greek universities; the “UK – Greece Strategic Partnership in Education to foster collaboration between UK and Greek Universities”; and the participation of Greek universities in the “European Initiative Program” and other internationalisation initiatives.
They also discussed the prospects that the new, flexible institutional framework for establishing foreign-language bachelor’s degree programmes at Greek universities opens for attracting students from other countries. The first English-language departments have already been established: The “BA Program in the Archaeology, History, and Literature of Ancient Greece” at the NKUA School of Philosophy, in collaboration with the International University of Greece, and the bachelor’s degree programme at the Medical and Health Sciences Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
In this context, two workshops were held, on the occasion of the International Day of Education, by the Education and Religious Affairs Ministry’s General Secretariat for Higher Education and the Foreign Ministry’s General Secretariat for Public Diplomacy and Greeks Abroad, aimed at promoting the internationalisation of education, showcasing the opportunities offered for young people and our country, and at attracting foreign students and scientists to Greece.
