Education in Conditions of Crisis in Greece: An Empirical Exploration (2000-2013)

The article aims at exploring the ramification of the crisis on education in terms of access to education, educational attainment of the population, funding, schools, teachers and students. These and other aspects of education are examined on basis of statistical data that has been collected and published by international agencies and Greek sources. In order to analyse fluctuations and trends, the data examined covers a period before and after the onset of the crisis (in 2009), namely from 2000 to 2013. In addition, socio-political developments and educational policy are taken into consideration, for they form the context in which education operates.The concept guiding this endeavour is equity; it is defined normatively as equality of opportunity and meritocracy, the two principles upon which social institutions function in a democratic society.The results point to differences in the ways education has been affected by the crisis: at micro and meso level, for example, the funding, the school units and the education personnel have been reduced; at macro level, access to education and education attainment continues to rise, but to a lesser degree than before the onset of the crisis