Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-09-28

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Greece is in position to recover from economic crisis, says FinMin Tsakalotos

[02] Education minister denies seeking confrontation with Church, during Parliament debate

[03] Greek athlete Hrysopiyi Devetzi loses Beijing and Osaka medals for doping

[01] Greece is in position to recover from economic crisis, says FinMin Tsakalotos

Tsakalotos said he discussed with Regling the issue of debt relief on which the head of ESM will brief the next EuroWorking Group (EWG). He said officials are now discussing short-term measures which will have to be implemented during the duration of the bailout program.

The minister also said the implementation of all the prior actions demanded by Greece's creditors is expected to be completed before the next Eurogroup on October 10 and that the remaining three measures will be completed within the next few days.

In his meeting with Hoyer, Tsakalotos stressed the need for investments in Greece in the immediate future that will promote growth, especially in the country's periphery.

A spokesperson of the ESM said after the meeting that Regling briefed the Greek finance minister on the ongoing work concerning the short-term measures to provide debt relief to Greece. The same source said the European Commission will now examine whether the Greek government has completed the implementation of the prior actions and then decide on the disbursement of the 2.8-billion-euro sub-tranche.

[02] Education minister denies seeking confrontation with Church, during Parliament debate

"It is not a Church-State confrontation. Since we all know from the past that no side wins from such a confrontation," he said. He pointed out that the new religious studies programme for schools was designed by an Educational Policy Institute committee that included theologians, and had been tested on a pilot basis for three years.

"The time has come for these programmes to be implemented, so that the new books can go into circulation from next year," he said. The changes would mark a shift for the religious studies class in Greek schools, he added, from a 'confession of faith' lesson to a knowledge of religions lesson, though always with emphasis on the Orthodox faith.

"It is the state that is responsible for education. School is secular, religiously tolerant and religiously neutral. We designed a class that is appealing, since it will be taught using modern teaching methods and not by turning classrooms into some sort of pulpit," Filis said.

Referring to the ministry's achievements, he pointed out that schools had this year opened without shortages for the first time in many years, while priority had been given to hiring in special education. He also pointed out that new hirings were up 34.96 pct compared with 2011, up 66.76 pct compared with 2012 and 700 pct more than in 2014.

The minister also presented a three-year educational reform plan that included 10 years mandatory schooling and shifts away from exam-centred models, the abolition of nationwide university entrance exams by the present Parliament and the creation of a uniform research and education "area".

"Our aim is a school of quality and equality," he noted, adding that the main opposition's only plan was to tear down any changes that the present government had introduced in the past 18 months.

[03] Greek athlete Hrysopiyi Devetzi loses Beijing and Osaka medals for doping

Ten months ago, the Greek athletics federation SEGAS confirmed that one of her samples from 2007 had tested positive and the newspaper "Ethnos" later reported that the 2008 sample in Beijing also tested positive, so she was retrospectively disqualified from both competitions.

The Beijing bronze medal will now go to Olga Rypakova from Kazakhstan, who had placed 4th with a jump of 15.11 metres.

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