BY GEORGES MEHRABIAN
ATHENS - "These were the best 10 weeks of our lives. We
learned to sacrifice. We learned to overcome the `mé syndrome
and start thinking as `we,' " said Andreas Kilchiksis. He was
speaking at a panel discussion organized by the Forum of the
Friends of the Militant Newspaper here February 12. Kilchiksis
is a member of the Coordinating Committee of High School
Students in the Athens neighborhood of Zografou, which
comprises six schools.
"We fought to change a whole school system and in the process many figured out we had to change a whole society," he added. About 150,000 students participated in the 10-week battle against new laws that will restrict access to post- secondary education. "Each week we held meetings, each week we held demonstrations and rallies, we held concerts and parties, we organized film showings. We learned what the police, the courts, and the government are, what the press is, and much more.
"To those that say we lost, we answer, `No, we won!' We won because we are no longer the same and so the schools can no longer be the same. We won because we have returned to classes with our heads held high," continued Kilchiksis.
The government's education "reform," known as the Arsenis law, institutes a whole series of tests in the last two years of high school aimed to reduce university admittance. "By their own accounts they say 40,000 university seats will be eliminated," Kilchiksis noted. "So your high school years will become battle grounds pitting student against student each fighting for the available slots. And, of course, if you can afford private tutoring after school, you will have a better shot at being among the lucky ones. So money will get you into university. They are also instituting universities with tuition for the first time."
As a result of the protests, the government has agreed to postpone implementation by one year. Kilchiksis said he expects the fight to resume next September.
Three high school students attended the forum , which took place five days after classes resumed. Others "wanted to come tonight but they had classes," the student leader said. He added that school authorities are now preventing students from holding meetings and assemblies on school grounds. In the course of the last decade, different governments have tried on two other occasions to impose such reforms. Both times they were beaten back. This time though they would not be moved. As a result many students now understand that the state, as a result of an entire world situation, must impose these conditions on us," continued Kilchiksis. "So we must think, can we win without the help of the workers? Can we win without that main strength in society?"
Many workers expressed sympathy and support for the student occupations, including parent's associations, teachers, retirees, construction unions, and the General Federation of Labor. "But we were not able to march side by side," Kilchiksis said.
"I was present at the last joint assembly of parents and students in Zografou," said Can Coban, a worker and member of the Committee of Communists, who also spoke on the panel. "The president of the student committee said that day, `I was just a student 10 weeks ago, now I know who my enemy is. Such lessons are learned in struggle.' This is confirmation to me that we won a victory here.
"This law is a broad attack on the right of all to free public education. The ruling capitalist class is determined to push this through. Just as it is determined to push back health-care rights, just as it is determined to beat working farmers, the Olympic Airlines workers, and the list goes on," Coban added.
"What was missing was the connecting together of these battles with the fight by the students. Had this happened, an overturn of the Arsenis Law might have been won too."