Political situation
Greece is a parliamentary constitutional republic, with the Prime Minister as head of the government and a multi-party system. The legislative power is vested in the Greek Parliament. The judiciary branch is independent of the executive and the legislative branches.
Greece applies the New Architecture of Local Authorities and Decentralised Administration – "Kallikratis" Programme (2011). "Kallikratis" re-formed the administrative division of Greece and re-defined the boundaries of self-government units, the method of election of competent bodies and their powers.
Further reforms in the institutional framework of Local administration were put in place with the recent Law 4555/2018 which aims to strengthen Democracy, reinforce participation and improve the funding mechanisms and the development of the local government, by virtue of the programme "Kleisthenis". Kyriakos Mitsotakis is the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic.Mitsotakis has led “New Democraty” to victory in the Greek parliamantery elections in July 2019.
Economic situation
Economic Situation Problems relating to poverty, social exclusion and economic inequality have always been present in Greece even before the beginning of the economic crisis, when Greek economy was achieving high growth rates for over a long period of time. Since late 2009 - early 2010, due to both international and domestic factors, Greece confronted serious economic hardships. The country faced the second largest budget deficit and the second highest fiscal debt in the European Union. In May 2010 Greece signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU) and the European Central Bank (ECB) in order to receive assistance for reducing its debt. August 2018 marked the typical exit from the Memorandum.
Investment and expenditure
The following table presents investment and expenditure data regarding education.
| Education Expenditure as % of GDP (In current Prices) | |||||
| 2000 | 2005 | 2009 | 2015 | 2016 | |
Total expenditure - private - public | 6,208 1,831 4,376 | 9,753 2,823 6,930 | 12,166 3,476 8,690 | 8,989 2,505 6,484 | 8,705 2,364 6,340 |
| Investment on education | 1,462 | 1,598 | 1,396 | 1,191 | 1,172 |
Total expenditure on education (consumption and investments) | 7,670 | 11,352 | 13,562 | 10,179 | 9,877 |
| Gross Domestic Product (GDP) | 141,247 | 199,242 | 237,534 | 176,312 | 174,199 |
| Expenditure on Education as % of GDP | 5.43% | 5.70% | 5.71% | 5.77% | 5.67% |
Source: ELSTAT 2016
Education and training services in Greece have been profoundly affected by lower public expenditure due to fiscal consolidation measures. Expenditure in education as a share of GDP is one of the lowest in the EU. The ratio of general government expenditure to GDP remained fixed during this period of time, but considering the 25% cumulative GDP decrease, expenditure in education presented a decrease at the same ratio.
Educational attainment level
The following figure presents adult population attainment levels for years 2000, 2005 and 2015.
| Educational Attainment Level | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | 2005 | 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| Population 18 years and over | 8,393,359 | 8,948,252 | 8,906,024 | ||||||||||||||||
| ISCED | 0 | 774,738 | 645,158 | 391,583 | |||||||||||||||
| ISCED | 1 | 2,916,054 | 2,713,965 | 2,152,403 | |||||||||||||||
| ISCED | 2 | 787,995 | 866,225 | 826,724 | |||||||||||||||
| ISCED | 3 | 2,362,678 | 2,717,542 | 2,943,339 | |||||||||||||||
| ISCED | 4 | 436,657 | 548,827 | 595,370 | |||||||||||||||
| ISCED | 5 | 1,106,361 | 1,433,789 | 1,956,829 | |||||||||||||||
| ISCED | 6 | 8,876 | 22,746 | 39,776 | |||||||||||||||
Source: Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), Population and Labour Market Statistics Division, 2016