Greek academics call for revision of Article 16 prohibiting private universities

Leading academics from local and foreign institutions have signed an open letter urging Greece's leftist-led government to green-light the review of the Greek Constitution's Article 16, which prohibits the establishment of private universities, describing the matter as a question of democratic principles. 

"Greece is unique in this: It is the only country in Europe, if not the entire world, where the average lawmaker does not have the freedom to regulate the status of universities in accordance with the educational, social and cultural needs of the time, as well as the priorities of the majority of the time. On the contrary, they are strictly limited by the constitution," the academics say in the letter published in Sunday's Kathimerini. 

The signatories claim that by going into excess detail, such as stipulating the organizational structure and public status of...