The International Certificate and the new academic map in Higher Education: All Changes in Education in 2025

Changes in Primary, Secondary and Higher Education brings in 2025, with the ministry’s leadership describing the new year as “his year. ” With changes in schools and universities the Ministry of Education attempts to highlight initiatives and actions to improve the educational process. CORVERSE Reforms in Higher Education expected for 2025 stimulate interest in the new Greek academic map to be drawn from the new year. It is noted that some of the changes in Education have already been implemented in the school environment. The multiple book and the new network of schools Multibook, literary works, digitization and prevention of Internet usage addiction are a first network of actions announced for schools. At the same time, the first legislative intervention of the Ministry of Education within 2025 will “bring” a new network of schools, Public Onassis Schools. CORVERSE More specifically, in the second half of the current school year, students of Primary and Secondary Education have been set the goal of holding in their hands books with complete literary works of “irregular literary writers”, for which the pedagogical fitness and aesthetic value are “widely accepted”, as reported by the Institute of Educational Policy. Thus, depending on the class, students will have the opportunity to meet Greek and foreign authors, such as Penelope Delta, July Verne, Kostis Palamas, Anton Chekhov, George Vizynos and William Saixpir. The introduction of whole literary works into all classes of compulsory education is the first step towards introducing the multiple book. With a planned start in September 2025 in digital form, teachers will have a digital source repository at their disposal, with the aim of familiarizing themselves with the new teaching approach and selection of books they will have for “allies” in teaching. This is a period of preparation that will start from the coming school year until the universal implementation of the multi-book, which is expected to bring a completely different way of approaching teaching and learning than the one we have used to this day. The Digital Observatory, e-schools and e-parents Of course, the digital world and the facilities and innovations it brings are at the opposite of books. The Digital Observatory has been operating since the beginning of the current school year, however, it will be enriched with material for more classes in the coming months, providing support through asynchronous education. In addition, the strengthening of platforms such as e-schools and e-parents is expected over the next period. In this context, it is recalled that the new rules on the operation of schools, which also provide for the prohibition of the use of mobile phones, have been implemented as a step towards tackling incidents of violence and intimidation within the school environment. In this, and as part of the students’ digital education, a tool to learn the correct use of the internet is added, the educational material to be provided by the Personal Data Protection Authority under the name “JIMANOUS”. “Be a hero of the internet” Municipal and Gymnasiums will introduce the educational game in the course of IT in order for students to learn how to manage themselves, their image, their relationships and their data in the digital world. The above, combined with the program developed in collaboration with Google, “Be a hero of the Internet”, which has been joined in the last three years in Skill Labs, through which children learn about safe internet navigation, how they can deal with Internet phenomena, which must address, etc., are part of the announced National Strategy for the Protection of Minors from the Nation on the Internet last Monday. Special mention, however, is worth making for the network of Public Onassis Schools, the first of which is expected to operate from September 2025. As announced during the last Cabinet, the Onassis Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, plans to turn 22 public high schools and high schools into Public Onassis Schools (11 Gymnasiums and 11 High Schools), into vulnerable areas of Attica and the rest of the territory, proposing, as the Foundation reports on it, “the public school of the future”. The relevant legislative initiative is expected in early 2025 and, according to the first announcements, the network of these schools is expected to be upgraded not only at the level of structures and infrastructure, but also at the level of educational process, giving more than 6,000 students the opportunity to participate in a new model of education, which “will combine the content of public education with the pioneering, modern knowledge and skills required by the 21st century”. This synergy, as reported relatively from the Onassis Foundation’s side, “is intended to open new horizons in public education, to come tomorrow’s School to today, building a future full of opportunities for all children, focusing schools open to local communities.” New academic map As far as Higher Education is concerned, the new map to be drawn up in Greece, following the establishment of non-state universities, is expected with particular interest, as well as the intensification of actions to internationalise public AEIs. In particular, as of January 2025, applications for licensing and operation of non-state universities begin. The deadline expires next March and the number of applications, combined with the names of universities to take this first step is expected with great interest. It is worth noting that, on the basis of a timetable, the first non-state universities will be able to operate from September 2025. In addition, cooperation between public universities and foreign educational institutions is expected to be strengthened, with a series of joint postgraduate programmes, to be financed by the Ministry of Education, through the Recovery Fund in the first phase. It is also recalled that the presence of public Greek AEIs and their interconnection with the international educational community will continue in the new year through Study in Greece, AME of Greek AEIs and a national body for their internationalization and extroversion. The first bill The start of 2025 is expected to bring the first Education Ministry bill, which was presented to the last Cabinet, before Christmas. The bill will include provisions to strengthen the autonomy of schools, the introduction of the International Certificate (IB) in some of the Standards Lyceia in Athens and Thessaloniki, the operation of Standards of Sports Schools, the regulation of the Study Centers, as well as the network of Public Onassis Schools, mentioned above. It is recalled, that based on the information so far, the operation of IB departments at Standards Schools, as well as the start of the Sports Schools is scheduled for the beginning of the next school year, in September 2026.