Creating Markets out of Nothing: The Case of the Continuing Education System in Greece
Abstract
The development of the vocational training policy constitutes one of the most interesting examples of a policy which was introduced entirely due to the pressure exercised by the EU, but it was implemented in such a way that it served the domestic political economy. The seven laws and the dozens of ministerial decrees issued from 1989-2004 reflect the effort made by the state to foster but also control the development of the market, the conflict of interests among the main players –namely those of the state, the private training centers and the social partners– but also the tensions generated by the pressures of the EU. It will be argued that the development of the continuing education market in Greece can be described and analyzed on the basis of three distinct time periods: (a) The period of initial capital accumulation (1989-1994), (b) the period of the controlled clearing of the market (1994-2004) and, (c) the period of the liberalization of the market (2005-). In every stage the interests of the main actors were accommodated accordingly, but this was achieved at the expense of the continuing training system’s efficiency. The aim of the paper is to critically assess these developments by focusing on the latent rationality underlying the state’s regulatory actions, as well as on the political economy which these actions have engendered.
References
[2] Barbier J.C. (2001). Assessing the European Employment Strategy: Some Preliminary considerations”, Presentation to the Seventh Workshop on Alternative Economic Policy in Europe, Brussels, 28-30 September.
[3] Chletsos, M. and Kaminioti, O. (2006). Skills Demand in the Greek Labor Market, PAEP, Athens (in Greek).
[4] Dimoulas, K. (2002). Welfare state and vocational training, PhD Thesis, (in Greek).
[5] Doxiadis, Α. et al. (1993). Evaluation of the actions taken by the Community Structural Funds in the field od human resources, ECOTEC, Athens (in Greek).
[6] Efstratoglou, Α. (2004). Continuing Vocational Training in Greece, Enimerosi 106: 2-15 (in Greek).
[7] Karalis, T. and Vergidis, D. (2004). Lifelong education in Greece: recent developments and current trends, International Journal of Lifelong Education 23(2): 179-189.
[8] Karalis, T. (2003). Adult Education in modern Greece (in Greek), http://www.adulteduc.gr.
[9] Karantinos, D., Pavlakis, Y. and Delaporta, A. (1997). Employment Policy and the 2nd CSF, Ministry of Labor, Athens (in Greek).
[10] Kokkos, Α. (2005). Adult Education, Metechmio (in Greek).
[11] Kokkos, Α. (2008). Adult Education in Greece, 11th International Conference on Continuing Education in the countries of the Balkan Region, Ikonio, 23-27/10/2008.
[12] Lamans, L. and Visamber, V. (1999). Second Report on the O.P. Continuing Training and
Employment 1994-1999, Ministry of Labor, Athens (in Greek).
[13] Mpasdra, V. and Theodorakis, G. (2003). Skills Certification Systems and their outcomes, in The Role of National Certification Systems in the development of life-long learning, EKEPIS, Athens (in Greek).
[14] Palios, Ζ. (ed.). (2003). Training and Employment, INE-GSEE, Athens (in Greek).
[15] Papadeodosiou, Th. and Stavrou, St. (1993). Survey on the fight against unemployment. The case of the vocational training, ELKEPA-EETAA, Athens (in Greek).
[16] Vergidis, D., Abrahamsson, K., Davis, R. and Fey, R. (1999). Adult Education: social and economic aspects, Greek Open University, Patras (in Greek).
[17] Vretakou, Β. and Rouseas, P. (2002). Vocational training in Greece, Cedefop, Thessaloniki (in Greek).
[18] Kokkos, Α. Social attitudes towards typical education and adult education: the case of Greece (in Greek), http://www.adulteduc.gr.
*** EKEPIS. (2006). National Monitoring and Evaluation System of the Vocational Training Centers 2003-2005, Final Report, EKEPIS (in Greek).
*** EKEPIS. (2008). National Monitoring and Evaluation System of the Vocational Training Centers 2005-2007, Final Report, EKEPIS (in Greek).
*** EKEPIS. (2011). National Monitoring and Evaluation System of the Vocational Training Centers 2007-2009, Final Report, EKEPIS (in Greek).
*** EKPA. (2005). Evaluation of the Vocational Training under the 3rd CSF, University of Athens (in Greek).
*** European Commission. (1994). Greece: Community Support Framework 1994-1999, Athens (in Greek).
*** General Secretariat of Community Funds. (2007). Evaluation of the E.P. Employment and Vocational Training, 2000-2006, Ministry of Labor, Athens (in Greek).
*** Greek Economic and Social Committee. (1998). Opinion on Vocational Training, (in Greek).
*** GSEE and SEV and GSEVEE and ESEE. (2006). National Labor Agreements 1975-2005, Athens (in Greek).
*** UNESCO. (1985). Adult Education since the fourth International Conference on Adult Education, Paris.
*** UNESCO. (1999). World Trends in Adult Education Research, UNESCO, Hamburg.
*** University of Piraeus. (1994). Evaluation of the training programs for the strengthening of the competitiveness of the Greek private companies, OAED, Athens (in Greek).
The Copyright Transfer Form to ASERS Publishing (The Publisher)
This form refers to the manuscript, which an author(s) was accepted for publication and was signed by all the authors.
The undersigned Author(s) of the above-mentioned Paper here transfer any and all copyright-rights in and to The Paper to The Publisher. The Author(s) warrants that The Paper is based on their original work and that the undersigned has the power and authority to make and execute this assignment. It is the author's responsibility to obtain written permission to quote material that has been previously published in any form. The Publisher recognizes the retained rights noted below and grants to the above authors and employers for whom the work performed royalty-free permission to reuse their materials below. Authors may reuse all or portions of the above Paper in other works, excepting the publication of the paper in the same form. Authors may reproduce or authorize others to reproduce the above Paper for the Author's personal use or for internal company use, provided that the source and The Publisher copyright notice are mentioned, that the copies are not used in any way that implies The Publisher endorsement of a product or service of an employer, and that the copies are not offered for sale as such. Authors are permitted to grant third party requests for reprinting, republishing or other types of reuse. The Authors may make limited distribution of all or portions of the above Paper prior to publication if they inform The Publisher of the nature and extent of such limited distribution prior there to. Authors retain all proprietary rights in any process, procedure, or article of manufacture described in The Paper. This agreement becomes null and void if and only if the above paper is not accepted and published by The Publisher, or is with drawn by the author(s) before acceptance by the Publisher.