In a press statement on Saturday, Greece’s Education Minister Costas Gavroglou announced that by mid-January a draft bill for a proposed new international university, will be ready for public consultation.
Gavroglou noted that the required parliamentary processes can be completed in time for the plenary to vote on the bill at the end of February.
Speaking after a meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and representatives of the four tertiary-level educational institutes that will collaborate to form the new university, held in Thessaloniki earlier the same day, Gavroglou highlighted the benefits for northern Greece.
"It is a new start for a project that will play a developmental role in the region but also open up many channels of communication with the Balkans, both academic and in research," he said. As to when the new university departments will open for business, he noted that there was a unanimous resolution that also referred to the launch of operation of the new departments.
"A great percentage will be added to the lists of 2019 and the rest in 2020, while one or two in 2021," he clarified.
The initial phase would concern at least eight new departments, the minister said, while the ministry was also focus on finding staff so that all departments on the university list had the minimum number of staff needed to operate autonomously.
This meant new teaching positions, to be decided in consultation with the university authorities, Gavroglou clarified, which would be announced during the parliamentary debate.
