To ensure that this will be a society for all, with equal participation of all citizens and without discrimination between information haves and have-nots, the Operational Programme "Information Society" (OPIS) has been introduced (2000-2006) (1) . This presents a comprehensive strategy, defines priorities and specific goals for the future, as well as means, initiatives and mechanisms for achieving them.

The Programme has an innovative and horizontal character, affecting different sectors of economic and social life, including education.  Education is included in the first Priority Axis of the OPIS. The aim is to adapt the Greek educational system to the digital era and increase use of ICT in education.

First developments towards increased ICT use in education
Whereas other European countries have invested in ICT in the educational sector since the early nineties, the first national large-scale initiative to include ICT in the daily activities of Greek schools took place only in 1996.

More specifically, as of 1996, the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs (MoE&RA), its scientific and administrative services (the Pedagogical Institute and the Directorate for Secondary Education Studies) along with the Academic Research Institute on Computer Technology (CTI) mobilized a significant social force of 53 companies, 570  university units, 18 museums and research institutes, 385 schools, 5.500 teachers and 100.000 students, in a far-sighted programme, the Odysseia - Hellenic Schools in the Information Society Programme (2) (1996-2001).

Through setting up the necessary infrastructure, providing training and support for teachers and developing appropriate educational material, the programme aimed at making students and teachers perceive ICT not only as an independent scientific domain, but also as a handy tool to be used every day in teaching, learning and communicating.

The evaluation of the project was quite positive. The findings included a shift in teachers’ attitude towards ICT use, increased students’ engagement in active learning, shift towards collaborative work and higher levels of student autonomous work. The outcomes confirmed that ICT has the potential to act as a force for change in education.

Initiatives to increase access to ICT
After the completion of Odysseia (2001) - and within the framework of OPIS - the MoE&RA continues its investments in ICT and implements various categories of actions which relate to the supply, installation, operation and support of hardware. Computer labs have been established in primary, secondary and special education schools, and more hardware is being provided to more schools. Until September 2005, 2,149 primary schools (36% of the total) and 3,148 secondary schools (87% of the total) have been equipped with computer labs with Internet access (3).

In parallel, a support structure (Support Centres for New Technologies-KEPINETs) is being established to maintain and support the computer labs and networks established in primary and secondary schools.

Initiatives to increase networking of schools, teachers and students
One of the main priorities within the framework of OPIS has been the networking of schools, universities and the academic community. In this context, the MoE&RA has launched the Greek Schools Network (www.sch.gr) which interlinks all schools and provides basic and advanced telematics’ services, contributing to the creation of a new generation of educational communities. 

With regard to Internet connectivity, the Greek Schools Network is upgrading its distribution network by installing broadband in order to achieve the objectives of e-Europe 2005 regarding the provision of broadband access to all schools . Moreover, higher education students can have broadband access to the Internet with preferential terms and low cost through the new "Diodos" scheme that started on 27 March 2006, through an initiative of the Ministries of Development, Education and Transport & Communications.

Greece has been well behind the leading countries in Internet penetration and broadband take-up. But Greece is catching up: a rise in the acquisition of broadband connections has been observed during the past few months. This is inter alia associated with the significantly decreasing trend of the average total cost of purchase and use . However, prices in Greece continue to be higher than in most other EU countries (according to research conducted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in November 2005).

The most recent initiative taken by the MoE&RA is a new students’ portal (http://students.sch.gr) with the aim to encourage pupils to use ICT. Through the students’ portal, pupils have access to educational content, entertaining material and electronic services (e.g. email, e-cards etc). The publication of an e-magazine for pupils and the immediate provision of material ‘from students to students’ will be also considered in the future.

Initiatives to transform traditional teaching methods
ICT is now integrated into all levels of education through the National Curriculum for Information Technology. The subject of Informatics (IT) is optional for primary pupils and compulsory for secondary students. Its aim is to familiarise students with the basic ICT tools and applications and enable them to participate actively in tomorrow’s digital world.

The learning culture in the majority of Greek schools is rather teacher-centred, that is the teacher has the central role and focuses on the product and not on the process of learning. Teachers are generally encouraged to use educational software, yet, there is no specific requirement to integrate ICT in their teaching. Therefore, the cross-curricular use of ICT depends mainly on the individual teacher’s interests and initiatives. In addition, when ICT is integrated in other subjects than Informatics, it is mainly used as a tool to support existing traditional practices. 

However, a case study investigation (5) of the extent and the ways in which ICT use in Greek schools was related to educational innovation has shown that change from traditional teaching methods to student-centred practices is likely to occur in schools with longer ICT-related experience. 

Within this context, the MoE&RA has taken various initiatives to develop teachers’ ICT skills and confidence to use ICT in their everyday teaching. It has launched for example an increased number of teachers’ training courses and until September 2005 83,000 teachers (70% of the total) had already been trained on the use of basic ICT applications and 30,000 teachers had acquired a certification for their ICT competencies.

Furthermore, distance-education courses for teachers as well as a platform for teachers’ communication are available in the new official educational portal (www.e-yliko.sch.gr) of the MoE&RA. The portal intends to become a meeting place and a helpful forum for the educational community. It includes lesson plans, articles and texts of pedagogical interest, as well as links to educational sites. The presented lesson plans aim to inspire the educational community and encourage the contribution of educators and the exchange of views.

The portal also provides educators with the opportunity to download educational software that has been certified by the Pedagogical Institute (www.pi-schools.gr). More specifically, teachers can obtain online 31 newly developed educational software packages and 16 internationally developed and translated in Greek. The development of a national digital library of digital content is also considered whereas the Organization for Publishing Didactical Books (www.oedb.gr) intends as well to digitalize all published educational books since 1937 and offer them online through a new specialized portal.

Schools’ participation in European projects
Greek schools are active participants in a wide range of EU ICT-related projects and school competitions. Indeed Greece has been one of the first countries that joined the European School Network (EUN) and participation in the EUN projects has always been encouraged.

Therefore a great number of Greek schools have been involved in school competitions such as the eLearning Awards and the Green Week Competition for schools. Greek students won the Green Week Competition in both 2005 and 2006.

In addition, an increasing number of Greek schools develop partnerships with other European schools through the eTwinning, Spring Day in Europe and myEurope projects. Greece remains steadily among top five countries as far as the number of school partnerships is concerned. For the eTwinning action, a National Support Service has been established which, in close cooperation with the Central Support Service (www.etwinning.net), promotes the action at national level and provides support for teachers.

The education system in Greece
The Greek State offers free access to general education to all Greek citizens. The basic principle of the educational system is to provide an education that ‘fights to secure equal opportunities, access and support for all students in all levels of general education’.

Education in Greece is compulsory for all children 6-15 years old; namely, it includes Primary (Dimotiko) and Lower Secondary (Gymnasio) Education. Post-compulsory Secondary Education consists of two school types: Eniaia Lykeia (Unified Upper Secondary Schools) and the Technical Vocational Educational Schools (TEE). With regard to Higher education, it is mainly offered in universities which offer a general academic education, or in technological education institutions (TEI) .

The Greek education system is highly centralised. The Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs (MoE&RA) formulates and implements legislation, coordinates and evaluates regional services, administers financial support, approves primary and secondary school curricula and appoints teaching staff. The National Curriculum and school schedule for all school subjects is drawn up by the Pedagogical Institute under the authority of the Ministry. Teaching materials and textbooks must be based on the curriculum approved by the MoERA. The Pedagogical Institute provides teacher guidance but teachers choose their own methods.

For further information see:

Country reports
Each Insight newsletter will focus in turn on a specific country. It will analyse national developments based on the Insight country reports where information is provided by Ministries of Education and other national key elearning institutions in cooperation with the Insight team.

Notes:
(1) It aims to apply the most important points of the White Paper of the Greek Government entitled "Greece in the Information Society: Strategy and Actions" of 1999 and, at the same time, to achieve the aspirations which were placed within the framework of initiative eEurope and the Action Plan eEurope 2002, approved by the Feire European Council of June 2000.
(2) This was conducted under the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training and funded by the 2nd European Community Support Framework.
(3) The MoE&RA has the responsibility for the maintenance of computer labs and networks for public schools.
(4) Chatzilacos, T. et al. (2001) ‘A case Study of ICT and School Improvement at School’. OECD/CERI ICT Programme.