University professors in Greece have staged a nationwide strike protesting a series of proposed changes to higher education in the country, including a constitutional amendment to allow private and for-profit institutions to be built.

“This revision, allowing non-state institutions to operate in tertiary education is not only necessary because it brings the country in line with European Union trends and rules, but also because it has been a key component of our government’s reform strategy for many years,” said Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis of the conservative New Democracy party, in outlining his proposals for constitutional reform on May 11.

Article 16 of the Greek constitution currently requires that higher education be provided freely and “exclusively by institutions of a public character vested with full autonomy” and that the “establishment of higher education schools by private persons is prohibited.”

Students, academic staff and many university rectors are strongly opposing any attempt to relax the constitutional ban on private universities. “Private universities will downgrade even further the academic standards of education in the country by making it an appendage of the market,” Lazaros Apekis, president of the national academics union, POSDEP, told the Athens News.

POSDEP members walked off the job June 1, threatening to disrupt examinations. Meanwhile, students have staged large demonstrations and occupied universities across the country to demand the government withdraws its plans.

In addition to the constitutional amendment, the government is also proposing changes in university governance, giving financial managers more control over the administration of universities and weakening the power of academic councils and senates. Financial assistance for poorer students will be cut back. Technical institutes will be given the same degree-granting status as universities. Tenure for civil servants will be abolished and the principle of “university asylum” that provides for the right of unrestricted expression and exchange of political views on campus, including limitations on police access to university grounds, will be practically abolished.

“The decision to take up industrial action was not done so lightly, but we know we are involved in a very important struggle to protect the integrity and autonomy of Greek universities,” said POSDEP secretary Yanis Maistros.