ATHENS – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis began his speech in Parliament on Wednesday with a reference to the attack against Real Group earlier in the day.

He was speaking during the debate on the bill “New Horizons in Higher Education Institutions: Strengthening the quality, functionality and connection of universities with society.”

“I express my anger at the brazen attack on the offices of the Real radio station. The freedom of the press is not silenced by such acts of terrorism,” he said.

“The goal of all those who will benefit from the provisions of the specific bill is the acquisition of knowledge and the best chances of professional development,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis underlined in his speech in Parliament on Wednesday.

He was speaking during the debate on the bill “New Horizons in Higher Education Institutions: Strengthening the quality, functionality and connection of universities with society.”

“Today all of our commitments for education are completed with this bill, the 8th one,” he said and added: “The new landscape is completed by the 120 model and experimental schools, which receive a greater response from Greek society. Our choice to prioritise public education was not accidental. I care about young people, it is not to caress their ears and direct them to schools that have no future, but to those that have real possibilities in the labour market.”

“This is the direction of the new bill that expands the power of the public university, leading higher education to reconnect with its core principles in the new era.”

The prime minister noted that “the demands of Greek society are echoed by the articles of the bill, hence their appeal transcends party boundaries” while he pointed out that “the largest part of the university community has embraced this particular bill, even SYRIZA voters, 3 out of 4 agree with the Greek “Erasmus”, 4 out of 5 agree with the establishment of the internship. It is the right initiative at the right time, it is time for the main opposition to listen to the opinions of its friends,” Mitsotakis stressed.

“The one-time ‘great absentee’, the public university, is returning to educate the Greeks and shape the new Greece,” the prime minister underlined in his speech to the Parliament.

“Another bridge between education and work is the upgrading of the students’ internship, which will be accompanied by the payment of compensation.”

“Everything is changing, including the governance of the universities, in order to eliminate cases of favouritism. And let our professors be living examples for our students. And the electors themselves will be appointed electronically and with the participation of professors from other institutions,” Mitsotakis added.

“The main objective is to free public universities from bureaucratic burdens and state manipulation, so that higher education can once again lead to social progress, based on realistic criteria. The bill aspires to make equal rights to opportunity a reality,” added the prime minister.