Excellence, the system, the evaluation, the fifteen thousand marks

Once upon a time, in a country called «Greece digital governance 2.0», a new type of person was born: the «Aristos». No, not the one who read, who worked, who sweated. We are talking about the other one.
Excellent by default. The factory default.
And somewhere in there, the case of Makarios Lazaridis emerges. A child prodigy of the system. One of those who don't need to prove anything - because they have already proven that they... know the right people.
The other person says to you, «He's excellent!»
And you ask:
- In what?;
- Uh, excellent overall.
As in «he's a nice guy, he says hello to the neighborhood».
And of course, all this under the big umbrella of Kyriakos Mitsotakis« excellence. Where the word »excellent" has become something like Wi-Fi: it's everywhere, but it never works where you need it.
Because in Greece the excellent person is not the one who makes something. He is the one who... is placed somewhere.
- Where are you going, son?;
- I'm being placed.
- What do you know how to do?;
- To position myself.
And Makarios Lazaridis - every Lazaridis - is like that furniture from IKEA, it comes with instructions, but nobody ever reads them. They set it up somewhere, a little crooked, a little sloppy, and then you say «hey, that's okay, it does the job.».
Except this isn't a coffee table. It's a state.
And the citizen below, looking like the uncle at the wedding.
- Who the hell is this guy?;
- I don't know, but they did.
And just like that, «excellence» became the most successful joke of the time. And if Harry Clynn were alive today, he would say:
«Guys, I've got nothing against the A's. I have a problem with the... the... the sketchy A's. The ones that if you take them out of their seats, they don't even know where the on/off is.»
But don't worry. In Greece there is no off. Only reset.
And that... we pay for it every time.
The Accountant's Revelation
«Listen, listen and see what's going on in this country of lotus eaters! This isn't about politics, this is about the Eighth Miracle of the EFKA!
Mr. Macarius, my boy, 15,000 credits? What are you, man? The Ben Hur of wage labor? So you, while your mom was putting on your bib to eat your cornflower cream, you were punching cards at the craft store and signing collective bargaining agreements? From the Mother's maternity ward you went straight to the IKA for a 50 year census of 50 years of service in 50 years of life! We're talking about the man who used to get credit in his sleep! The only Greek who worked overtime in his mother's womb! “He's kicking the fetus,” the doctor used to say. “No, man, the stamp book is stamped”, said the accountant!
And you, Kasselakis, why are you asking him for degrees? What's a degree to do with the man-strakhannov? Here Makarios has credits from the time when Pericles was building the Parthenon and made his meremetia on weekends ‘black“!
If he continues in this way, by Easter he will have retired, will have received a lump sum and will claim retroactive benefits from the time of Otto!
Hey, this isn't a career, it's a metaphysical experience! It's the “Fast & Furious” of the insurance system! Hey, Macarius, you've been working since you were a toddler and instead of a pacifier, they gave you a stamp for the Protocol!
Hellas, your greatness... and may your coins be a thousand, as the word says, but for Makarios put fifteen thousand to lie!‘
Give content to teacher evaluation...
The thought of Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the Deputy Ministry of Rural Development to place Makarios in the Ministry of Education, has a term of office of a special advisor under Marietta, to give substance and content to the evaluation of teachers. It's amazing.
Stating Mitsotakis : «I want excellent people to evaluate».
And out pops Lazaridis. With a good degree! With experience. With 15,000 credits. He's been through parliamentary select committees.
Not just out of nowhere - out of... nowhere with contacts.
- You! You will be
- Me?;
- Yeah, you. You're going to go evaluate teachers.
- But I don't...
- It's okay. You have the basic qualification.
- What?;
- We know you.
And the evaluator arrives at the school.
He enters the classroom. He looks at the blackboard. He looks at the children. He looks at the teacher.
- What are you doing here?;
- Lesson.
- Oh, I see... and you do this every day?;
He takes notes:
«The teacher uses chalk.
No interactive whiteboard.
Minus one.»
«The children ask. Uncontrolled participation.
Minus two.»
«The teacher seems to know the subject.
Suspicious. To be checked.»
And in the end, it makes the conclusion:
«The teacher needs improvement. He has no experience in properly placing himself on committees.»
And the teacher asks him with obvious wonder:
- Excuse me, what did you study?;
And he answers with pride:
- I studied... trust.
And somewhere in there you realize that evaluation in Greece is like having the customer judge the cook...after you've told him what to say.
And somewhere in there, everything falls into place.
In the Greece of the new excellence, knowledge is just a detail.
The experience a nuisance.
And evaluation is a ritual of confirmation.
It doesn't matter if you can teach.
What matters is whether you can stand next to those who decide who teaches.
Thus, society is increasingly resembling a show where the roles have been assigned beforehand. The protagonists don't audition - they introduce themselves. And the audience doesn't applaud - they just get used to it.
And if someone dares to ask «but is that excellence?», the answer comes ready, clear, without unnecessary explanations:
«That's the system.»
A system that works perfectly - as long as you don't look too closely at it.
Because if you look at it, you'll see that there's no button to turn it off

Author of the article:

Panagiotis Koumoundouros