The number of students sitting this year at Modern Greek VCE exams will be about the same as last year. Although an official record will not be available until 2010 the estimated number of students is 300.

In 2008, the number of students taking the Modern VCE exam was 292.

This is a sharp decrease by more than 120 per cent compared with the number recorded 10 years before.
In 1998, 643 students had taken the Modern Greek VCE exams.

Ever since, this number shows a steady decline.
This troubling decrease is attributed to three major factors, according to experienced educator, Maria Foskolos, a Greek Teacher at the Victorian School of Languages for the Distance Education Program.
“First and foremost it starts with the family,” Mrs Foskolos points out.

She explained that the lack of motivation and to some extent the unwillingness to exert pressure on children to continue with Greek language classes is the leading factor for the discouraging numbers.

“If the parents do not persist it’s only natural for the kids to give up easily,” Mrs Foskolos said.

This is further highlighted by the fact that enrolments for Greek language classes on a primary level have recorded an increase over recent years. However, this trend is quickly reversed when children move to secondary level education.

The shortage of experienced and qualified teachers is another key factor for the low Greek VCE numbers, Mrs Foskolos suggested.

It has become a common complaint among Greek language educators that the deficiencies in personnel have significantly affected the Greek language programs.
Additionally, the complexity and perplexity of the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) system is a major contributing factor to the low numbers of students taking Modern Greek VCE exams.

“The bonus point system is so difficult to figure out that as Greek educators we have held numerous meeting trying to address the issue but to no avail,” Mrs Foskolos stressed.