Συγκεντρωτισμός και αποκεντρωτισμός στην εκπαίδευση: μια απόπειρα συγκριτικής προσέγγισης

Abstract

Based on the existing literature on centralization and decentralization in education systems across the European Union (EU), this cursive presentation explores possible correlates and characteristics of centralized/decentralized education systems. Throughout this analysis particular emphasis is placed upon the "Greek case", which traditionally has been characterized among other things by its extreme centralization features in the Greek education system. Embarking upon a comparative education perspective, Greece's performance in several "non-educational" variables (e.g. inflation rate, GNP, monthly salary and pension, money spent in research and technology, traveling abroad, etc.) is compared to the EU average. Furthermore, a similar comparison is carried out between the six EU country members (including Greece) categorized as "centralized" in terms of their education systems and the other six (a little before the latest enlargement of the EU), the "decentralized". The overal outcome of the analysis points to: a) Greece, with its highly centralized education system, lags considerably behind in all measures of the dependent variables adopted here; and b) The six "centralized" EU countries fall well below the corresponding scores of the other six "decentralized" EU members. Although this apparent correlation in no way implies (necessarily) causality, it points -nevertheless- to a number of possible trends that need further exploration.