Peoples Health Movement Greece Greek universities are paralysed. More than half of the faculties nation wide are occupied by the students fighting the privatisation of Greek education system.
Every day more student mass meetings are organised and new faculties are added to the list.
Alongside the students university teachers, primary and secondary education teachers and several trade unions are also taking action.
At the centre of this new social explosion is the government's attempt to revise Article 16 of the Greek Constitution, which guarantees a high quality, free and -crucially - public education for all Greek citizens. It declares without ambiguity that only the State can provide this service and that any private person is explicitly prohibited to do it in its place or in parallel.
However the discussion in the Greek Parliament appeared at beginning to be quite relaxed since PASOK (Socialist Party and largest opposition party), and the centre right Nea Dimokratiaparty in government, which together count for 90 percent of the seats, were in agreement on opening up a market in education.
It was even Papandreou the president of the parliamentary opposition who in 2005 introduced the plan, arguing that it was "essential for the improvement of the public system of education," forcing public universities to "rationalise and become more effective" and break from "bureaucracy and stagnation".
However in early February 2007 PASOK backed down on this position, voting no confidence in the government. Papandreou now describes the revision as a "change so profound, it would require a constitutional amendment.".
Whether or not this is a political manoeuvre, it makes it harder for the government to push through the reform, since a two thirds majority is required for a constitutional revision, and it no longer has this. The discussion appears postponed but only for the moment.
Meanwhile the popular movement is getting bigger all the time. After three weeks of struggle the students do not seem tired. They started with a dozen occupied faculties and in three weeks it reached 311. This despite the fact the occupations are not permanent but each week, and in certain cases twice a week, there is a struggle in General Assemblies against the DAP (student union organization related to the party in government) which is strong among the students.
Each week Coordination Committees at city level and one at national level take place. The first national meeting had 200 students from the whole of Greece representing their committee of occupation but by the second, a week later, there were more than 2000.
Since the beginning of the movement demonstrations have been organized every Wednesday. On January 24, 40,000 took part including 20,000 in Athens, 8,000 in Thessaloniki 8000 and smaller protests in other cities.
Trade-unions representing university professors, primary and secondary teachers, employees at the universities, public services, of the workers in the construction industry, and some from the private sector have supported the mobilisations.
This is only the beginning. The vote on the revision of the Constitution will take place in March.
And even more faculties will be swallowed by the wave of discontent as new protests take place this week.