3.4.1 The case of Greece

In Greece, two key features of the education system are a) the fact that education is free to all citizens and at all levels, and b) the fact that the Greek education system is centralized and organized by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. The Greek education system is divided into three distinct steps: Primary Education (ages 4-12); Secondary Education (ages 12-18), and Higher or Tertiary Education (18+).
Students who wish to study at tertiary level must take National Examinations. Alternatives for those who do not want to take the National Exams are studying at a Vocational Training Institute or a college, or practising a technical profession.
As far as refugees are concerned, there are no specific provisions facilitating access of refugees to tertiary education. Admission requirements differ depending on whether you are interested in studying at a Bachelor, Masters or PhD level. The requirements for third-country nationals or EU citizens who wish to enter Greek universities can be found here and here.
Language requirements and bureaucratic procedures are key barriers to refugees’ access to higher education. In fact, it has been reported that the number of non-Greek students in Greek universities is small compared to the number of domestic students. At the same time, adults with an immigrant background, including beneficiaries of international protection, are less likely to enter higher education institutions in Greece.
Despite the challenges, Greek universities, civic society organizations and entities are developing initiatives to facilitate the integration of refugees into the academic community and thereby into Greek society. For example, the U.S. Embassy in Athens, in collaboration with Deree-The American College of Greece, the American College of Thessaloniki-Anatolia College, and Perrotis College-American Farm School, has developed the “Education Unites: From Camp to Campus” programme to provide higher education scholarships to 100 eligible refugees in Athens and 100 in Thessaloniki.
Most of the initiatives in Greece that help beneficiaries of international protection to enter higher education are EU-funded programmes. For example, SUCRE focuses on university responses to the academic needs of refugee/migrant students and scholars, as well as on the formation of good practice guidelines through the development of training modules addressed to the voluntary sector working in the field with refugees/migrants. The SCIREA project, with the University of the Aegean acting as coordinator, focuses on skilled refugees and helps to integrate them into European academic institutions and to improve their qualifications. Another EU-funded initiative is the VAI-Volunteering Among Immigrants project, which points out that immigrant volunteering can be both an instrument for and an indicator of integration. Inspire Europe: Supporting Researchers At Risk is a project that anchors the excellent work already underway across Europe in support of researchers at risk. The Refugee Education Initiatives (REIs) address challenges that refugees and asylum seekers face in accessing higher education. The main purpose of the ‘Teaching Language through the Eyes of Refugees’ research programme was to establish an approach to language development and the learning process within the framework of translanguaging, through refugee identity texts, in a continuous dialectic relationship with researchers and with the objective of including good practices. One of the beneficiaries of this project describes his experience here. Finally, BRiDGE II supports the long-term careers of 300 highly-skilled refugee researchers and their integration into the labour markets of the European Union Member States and its associated countries by providing high quality guidance, mentoring and training for refugee researchers.