95
Madianos et al. 1995); burglaries, pick pocketing, and random muggings were on the rise
inspiring among young people a sense that they lived in an ever more dangerous city; and
troubling economic trends and the uncertain state of the social security system was
making it obvious that the youth would always have to rely on their families for
protection, hindering the individual’s failure to succeed independently (Chtouris 1992;
see also Flaquer 2002). However, the youth population was let down most profoundly by
the failing education system. Despite reforms and counter-reforms by alternate
governments, the elementary and secondary education system in Greece remained poorly
managed, underfunded, relied on outmoded teaching methodologies, and often suffered
from political intervention94. At this time, daily life for the majority of Greek youth
consisted of attending classes at these ramshackle, ill-equipped, state-run schools
followed by hours of expensive private tutoring95. This tutoring would be offered most
commonly by public-sector school teachers looking to supplement their meager salaries
by covering material which should have been offered in the classroom. Students from
wealthy families would end up in better private lessons and would therefore be more
prepared for exams than their less wealthy classmates. In addition to extending the
school day by hours and demonstrating the failure of public institutions, private tutoring
would also provide young people with a soft introduction to public sector Clientelism and
corruption96. Secondary education would end with national exams for placement in the
94 For example, a history textbook for 12 year-old school children was the source of much debate and
posturing in 2007 by politicians and church officials who claimed it glossed over important nationalist)
issues. The text, which was compiled by academics from various universities, was eventually amended.
95 This intense program is interrupted only by summer and religious holidays during which the majority of
young people unleash the pent-up desire for freedom from study.
96 It is also quite obvious that the education system contributes to Bourdieusian social differentiation
(Bourdieu 1977; Bourdieu & Passeron 1990), a reality students recognize in informal terms.