Photographer Magazine (2001)
I had the pleasure, after many years, to deliver a three-day photography seminar in Syros in mid-November to educators of Popular Education, or, as it is more accurately called today, Adult Education. The presence of many educators, from Florina to Rethymno, and the impeccable organization by the Cyclades Prefecture contributed to its success. However, this meeting made me face again the reality of adult public education in our country in the field of creative activity.
I don't think the need for lifelong adult education with a focus on their creative activities has ever been more apparent. Nor do I think that the state has ever managed more funds than in recent years. However, it is obvious that the work of Education today is qualitatively much thinner than it was a decade ago, when the funds were paltry compared to today's. This negative development is due to: Firstly, the monopolization of adult education by the Vocational Training Centers (known as KEK). Secondly, the mistaken perception that all adult education must pass through KEK. Thirdly, the also mistaken perception that the concept of education is necessarily linked with the concept of professional rehabilitation. And fourthly, the ignorance about the content and the need for creative education and activity for adults.
The establishment of KEK was presumably based on the need to control the specifications of the buildings, the instructors, and the programs, as well as the flow (and leakage) of EU funds. However, as with everything that happens in our country, none of the above was achieved. The desired quality was not secured, good intentions were replaced by poor results, and the initial enthusiasm was followed by the usual disappointment. KEK also bears part of the responsibility for the qualitative degradation due to the theoretically attractive idea of targeting education at disadvantaged groups of the population (such as the unemployed), who not only enjoy free education but are also paid for it. The result was often that apprenticeship turned into a profession and unemployment into a coveted status.
Besides, KEK is also responsible for short-circuiting every other form of public adult education, like that attempted (and still attempting) to be offered by the former Popular Education through its departments. An education aimed not so much at the small chance of professional rehabilitation but at a more certain hope of engaging with the creative (and possibly artistic) process. A creative process capable of shaping a broader spirit and more flexible character, thus favoring change and adaptation to any new professions. However, this creative education for adults now appears as a very poor relative of KEK, and only the gained momentum and enthusiasm of a few employees ensure its decent but insufficient continuation.
The institution of the former Education suffers also from three of its own weaknesses. The first is the absolutely free participation, the second is the almost absolute dependence on local self-government, and the third is the inadequate training of the educators. Free participation fills the classes with occasional listeners who usually do not respect the work of their teacher and classmates. In today's society, where money is a measure of expressing desires and priorities, there should be a requirement to pay a symbolic amount, which would also serve as a celebratory declaration of the participants' need to accept this education. The amount collected could contribute to the better operation of the department, and its management could possibly be entrusted to the participants. As for the dependence on local self-government, it is evident that the selection of educators and trainees is connected with personal acquaintances to a much greater extent than when it was managed by central administration. Unfortunately, it has been proven that the much-desired self-government often goes hand in hand with distasteful nepotism. The problem of the educators' inadequate knowledge is unfortunately only partly compensated by their increased passion. Many of them, for years, have kept a department alive, with very low salaries and almost non-existent support funds. It is not uncommon for them to offer their own room for the department's needs or to continue meetings when their pay has been suspended or the department has been abolished.
The initial hope was for the state to recognize the importance of continuous education not only as an antidote to unemployment but primarily as a right to creation, and for the presence of the departments to generate the need for more and better-trained (and paid) teachers. It seems, however, that the state has not been convinced of the right to creation, while it merely drags its feet in maintaining the departments. Meanwhile, the significantly higher salaries of KEK educators and the incomparably higher funds of the related programs monopolize the interest of both potential teachers and relevant public officials. Sporadic exceptions of devoted individuals within central and local self-government and corresponding exceptions among educators allow the institution to continue to exist. However, it is unlikely, or rather certain and not too distant, that the revelation of the unreliability and ineffectiveness of KEK (at least as they operate today) will allow new thoughts and directions towards a fuller functioning of the former Education departments and the creative education of adults.
Plato Rivellis