Greece abolishes long study breaks, cutting student population by half

More than 300,000 inactive university students have been removed from the rolls in Greece, cutting the country's official student population by nearly half, officials said.

The move marks the end of a decades-long practice - formally abolished in recent legislation - that allowed extended enrollment to facilitate lifelong learning and lengthy breaks for work. Education ministry said on Friday 308,605 students admitted to state-run universities' four-year degree programmes before 2017 had been removed. "Student status is not valid for life in any modern European university," education minister Sofia Zacharaki said.

Opponents say the program failed to address the scale of disruption caused by the financial crisis in previous decade.