The 1990–1991 student protests in Greece were carried out against an education-related bill proposed by the

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a type of democracy in Marxism, based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that w ...

-led Greek government. The protests were accompanied by school occupations, and the students were subjected to violent attacks from the

Hellenic Police The Hellenic Police (, ''Ellinikí Astynomía'', abbreviated ) is the national police service and one of the three security forces of Greece (the others being the Hellenic Fire Service and the Hellenic Coast Guard). It is a large agency with res ...

and organizations aligned with New Democracy. Five people were killed during the demonstrations; mathematics teacher and

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

activist Nikos Temponeras was assassinated during an attack by members of the

Youth Organisation of New Democracy The Youth Organisation of New Democracy () is the youth organisation of the centre-right liberal Greece, Greek political party New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy. It was founded in 1974 by young members of New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy. ...

(ONNED) in

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

in January 1991, and, two days later, another four people died in a fire caused by a tear gas agent used by the police in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Cause

The protests were caused by an education bill proposed by

Konstantinos Mitsotakis Konstantinos Mitsotakis (, ; – 29 May 2017) was a Greek politician who was Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He graduated in law and economics from the University of Athens. His son, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was elected as the Prime Mi ...

' government and published in the

Government Gazette A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establish ...

on November 21, 1990. Among other things, the bill included: * Abolition of the right of secondary education students to a number of unexcused absences from class. * Enforcement of mandatory

school uniforms A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries and are generally widespread in Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Brit ...

. * Disciplinary control of students' lives outside of school. * Abolition of school walks and excursions. * Exams administered as a requirement to advance from junior to senior high school with no right to re-examination. * Abolition of the free provision of scientific textbooks to university students. * Abolition of social provisions to university students, such as free food and accommodations.

Student occupation

In response to the bill, seen as old-fashioned and conservative for its era, students began occupying schools across Greece in late 1990 and early 1991. Eventually 2,000 high schools (70% of the total) were occupied by students over a seven week period. This was described as the biggest challenge yet to the 10-month rule of Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis and his New Democracy party.

Response to the occupation

On January 8, 1991, students and their supporters occupying a school in

were attacked by a local ONNED branch, resulting in the death of school teacher and occupation supporter Nikos Temponeras, who was hit in the head with an iron bar by the ONNED branch president, Ioannis Kalampokas. The killing was followed by a protest in Athens that drew over 100,000 people, and smaller protests in other Greek cities also broke out. During the protest in Athens on January 10, 1991, a store on

Panepistimiou Street Panepistimiou Street (, "University Street", named after the University of Athens, the central building of which is on the upper corner) is a major street in Athens that has run one way for non-transit vehicles since 2002 from Vasilissis Amalias ...

caught fire, resulting in the deaths of four people. The fire was started by a

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

agent thrown inside the building by

riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police officers who act in the role of riot police in particular situations, or they may be separate unit ...

, who also attacked the

firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

forces that rushed to the fire's location.

Outcome

The education bill was withdrawn by

Georgios Souflias Georgios Ath. Souflias () (born July 7, 1941) is a Greek politician. He is a member of the New Democracy political party and was Minister for the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works for the duration of the Karamanlis administration ...

, who had replaced Vasilis Kontogiannopoulos as

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

after the latter resigned following the assassination of Nikos Temponeras.

References

Assassinations in Greece Riots and civil disorder in Greece Police brutality in Europe Student protests in Greece 1990 protests 1991 protests Police misconduct in Greece Fires in Greece 1991 fires Building and structure fires in Europe Protest-related deaths 20th-century mass murder in Greece 1990 in education 1991 in education 1990 in Greece 1991 in Greece Occupations (protest) {{DEFAULTSORT:1990-1991 student protests in Greece