Taking the French student movement as its inspiration, Greek students are in revolt against the government's proposed plan to privatise university education, and attack students' rights which were gained by a previous generation of students in the 1970's.
194 university departments across Greece were occupied on May 31, resulting in an almost total paralysis of the university system.
One of the main slogans on the demonstrations is: 'We're going to do what they did in
The student action has been followed and reinforced by strike action from university lecturers.
Managing directors and financial managers will take over the administration of universities. The free supply of compulsory course books is due to be abolished and financial assistance to poor students will be cut down and the students' participation in the representative boards of the university will be restricted.
Young people from the lowincome families will be practically excluded from university education. "University Asylum" (the institution that establishes the right of unrestricted expression and exchange of political views and action within the university campuses, including the restriction of police access to the Universities) will also be abolished.
The Greek student movement has clearly drawn huge confidence from what has been achieved in France. Greek students do not have a recent radical movement to gain confidence from. This has lessons for students here in Britain, who also suffer from a weak recent history of radical action.
As Socialist Resistance goes to press the movement is still on the up. For more regular updates see: www.internationalviewpoint.org