The decision by Greek Education Minister Nikos Filis to legalise 2.500 public servants’ fake degrees by activating a defunct clause passed by former Education Minister Marrieta Giannakou Koutsikou, has caused an uproar. The scandal came to the Greek parliament after the private education association publicised the details of those public servants with fake or irregular degree titles.
At a time when the leftist SYRIZA government is supposedly championing the idea of reforms and transparency throughout the public sector and society as a whole, and unemployment for holders of authentic masters and postgraduate titles is rampant, Filis intends to permit public servants with forged degrees to sit for entry exams into the public sector, essentially legalising their titles and giving them a free pass.

The Education Ministry claims it cannot separate between irregular and illegal degree holders among the 2,500, and therefore does not want to discriminate against anyone! After the furor caused the Ministry admitted it was closely looking into the matter, blaming however, previous Education Ministers for the legal loophole.

Meanwhile, twitter exploded with the #hashtag ‘plasta_ptyxia’ (forged degrees) becoming the top trend in Greece. ‘My parents spent a fortune for my studies and these punks are working in the public sector instead of being in prison’, tweeted one user.