Education and hypocrisy

University candidates taking part in Friday's nationwide exam on the subject of Modern Greek were asked to distinguish between the notions of "education" (paideia) and "training," on the basis of a passage written by professor Dimitris Maronitis. The two terms often appear as synonyms, but in the words of the renowned scholar and translator, "education is more about the method; training is mostly about action." He said that in order to not violate itself, education must be a more or less free process. By contrast, training is controlled. "Education is (ought to be) optional; training is seen as compulsory, and rightly so," he said.

Let's ask ourselves what the more than 100,000 candidates this year really know about this distinction. Have they really cherished the benefits of training and the pleasures of education? Have they ever experienced the excitement generated by the...