The General Secretariat for Adult Education, jointly funded by the European Social Fund and the Greek Government with 30 million euros, is responsible for designing and implementing a wide range of lifelong learning programmes.


Greece came out of World War II badly bruised, as it also suffered a divisive civil war that retarded progress. Primary, secondary, and higher education had to be given priority. Today, it would be difficult to find anyone under forty without at least a first degree, many with MAs, and a fair number of PhDs (often from well-known foreign universities): a significant achievement in a country where the majority of the population was largely illiterate just after the War. With formal educational levels raised, adult education has become a new priority.

The GSAE supports a network of adult training centres, second-chance schools, adult distance learning, teacher-training, and eLearning throughout the country. It designs, co-ordinates, and supports measures for basic education and training for adults and people threatened with social exclusion, such as immigrants, minorities, and refugees.

Konstantinos Tsamadias, General Secretary of Adult Education says: "We have made substantial progress in this area in the last five years. We are currently running 58 centres for adult education, 58 schools of second chance, seven inside jails, 54 schools for parents, and a distance learning teacher training centre. We cater for a total of 256,000 adult students, and we wish to increase that number."

Dimitris Mouzakis is responsible for the Centre for Adult Education, and he said the centres offer 80,000 student places, although about 10% are not ultimately taken up for various technical reasons. Around 80% to 85% of learners do graduate successfully. Mouzakis said the centres aim to create active citizens, promote equal opportunities, provide access to the labour market, and improve basic education and skills and the lives of ordinary people, including minority groups.

The Schools of Second Chance, created in 1997, are free schools that offer two years of study for adults of any age, gender, and social status who have not completed their basic education. They are also co-funded by the EU and the state. The schools offer English, information technology, and career advice, as well as basic skills. The 25-hour-a-week lessons end in the same qualification as that in mainstream schools.

Distance learning is now also popular, especially given Greece's remote regions and scattered islands. The GSAE runs a distance learning centre, and so do the Hellenic Open University, the University of Athens, and universities in Thessaloniki, Patras, Thessaly, Ioannina, Crete, and Piraeus, as well as the Technological University of Athens. The Pedagogical Institute runs a distance learning centre for teachers.

The open university's courses are in such huge demand (more than 60,000 applications for 4,000 places) that candidates are selected by lottery. Priority is given to those over the age of 25 and people with special needs; students must pay for their own fees and books.