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A large amount of literature is available on the modern history of the Greek school system up until the 1950s, to which we refer in this paper (Pirgiotakis 1988; Kelpanides 1980, pp. 448ff.; Kelpanides 1997, pp. 231ff.). After a few isolated reforms in the 1950s, a more important stage in the history of the Greek school system began in the mid-sixties; since that time there have been three major packages of reforms to the system (Xochellis 1995, pp. 51ff.; Kazamias/Kassotakis 1986). The first of these occurred in 1964, but was almost immediately interrupted by the sevenyear military dictatorship (1967-74). The process was then resumed in the years 1976-80. The second set of reforms was introduced over the period 1981-85; some of their impact can still be seen in Greek schools of the present day. The third group of reforms began in 1997; these measures are still being implemented and are still subject to debate. Generally speaking, Greek educational policy over the last four decades has been characterized by repeated attempts and measures to adapt the school system to historical, social, and economic circumstances. At the heart of all the reforms has been the principle of equal opportunities in education. The gradual democratization of the school system – a trend which has characterized the Greek school system since the nineteenth century – must be judged in terms of its success in implementing this principle (Tsoukalas 1977).

State-organized school education in Hungary goes back to the mid-eighteenth century. After the end of the Ottoman occupation of the historical territories of the Hungarian crown (1689), the country assumed a special status within the Hapsburg Empire. Under the influences of the Enlightenment (and partly in opposition to it) Maria Theresa set out to ‘civilize’ and ‘Europeanize’ the country. In 1777 a decree was issued with the title (The Educational Plan).

Iceland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean with a total area of about 103,000 km of which about 24% is arable. Iceland was settled from Norway and the Norwegian settlements in Ireland late in the ninth century. About 930, the settlers had established a society with decentralized executive power vested in thirty-nine chiefdoms and centralized legislative and judicial power vested in a general assembly, the . In the year 1000, Christianity was adopted as the official religion through an act of the and the country was subsequently divided into two dioceses. In 1262 the Icelanders elected King Hakon of Norway as their king and in 1380 Iceland passed to the Danish crown, where it remained until the Republic was founded in 1944. The Republic of Iceland is a constitutional democracy with legislative authority vested in the , executive power in the Cabinet and judicial authority in the courts. The President and the sixty-three members of the are elected by popular vote for a four-year term. Local government is in the hands of about 100 municipalities. The national language is Icelandic and the official religion Evangelical Lutheran Christianity, to which about 86% of the population adhere. Iceland is a member of the UN and of NATO, and is associated with the EU as a member of the EEA. In 2002 the number of inhabitants was about 288,000, corresponding to 2.8 inhabitants per km. The annual population increase was 0.7% and the average life expectancy at birth 78 years for males and 83 years for females. About 4% of the population are foreign citizens. Of these, 3% are granted Icelandic citizenship annually. The largest population density is found in the southwest, where about 62% of the population lives in the capital city of Reykjavik and its surroundings. In 2002 about 54% of the population was economically active: 8% in education, 62% in other services, 23% in industry, and 7% in agriculture and fisheries. The average rate of unemployment was about 2%. About 63% of exports came from marine products, 33% from manufacturing products, and 4% from other products. The rate of inflation was 5% (Statistics Iceland, 2003).

The Republic of Ireland is a small country of just over three and a half million people on the western fringe of Europe. It has been a self-governing state since 1922 and it is a member of the European Union. According to the OECD Report of 1991, Ireland is overwhelmingly a Roman Catholic country, with 90% of the population belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. Because of this, and despite a rapid growth in the rate of economic development since the 1960s, Ireland has preserved many of the elements of its distinctive national culture and identity, such as the Irish language, and a distinctive Celtic identity in literature and the arts. These factors are all reflected in the school system, which has roots not only in ancient Ireland but also in the developments of recent centuries.

The origins of the present Italian school system can be traced back to a law of Count Gabrio Casati of 1859. Initially intended only for the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia and Lombardy, its legal force was extended to all the other regions of Italy when the country was united politically in the year 1861. The fundamental educational significance of this law manifests itself in Casati’s concern with the centralization of both the school education of the Italian people and the training of a political class under the control of the State. Thus, for the first time, the traditional predominance of the Church was challenged.

Prior to the war from 1989 to 1991 and 1998 to 1999, three parallel education systems had been developed in Kosovo, which have had an impact on current developments. The three main influences on the Kosovar education system are the following:

Latvia has experienced numerous different influences. During its history, it has been subject to diverse forces and policies. The Teutonic Order invaded the country in 1201, and crusaders founded the State of Livonia in 1270. Later, Polish and Swedish forces invaded, and by 1772 the Russian Tsarist Empire had conquered the whole country. Every instance of occupation left its mark on Latvia. The chief customs and policies of the invaders influenced the country’s culture in general, and its educational traditions, both in the family and in school, in particular. Especially the German and Russian presence in the region brought its influence to bear. Even nowadays, the school systems show several similarities: in pedagogy as a science of instruction, in educational approaches concerning mental development, and in its humanistic outlook.

The introduction of a regular, formal school system can be dated to the beginning of the nineteenth century, when an edict of the Prince prescribed that each community set up a school fund and introduce basic compulsory schooling. The first Education Law was only passed, however, in 1927. Since the region of today’s Liechtenstein was basically agricultural, the local population was largely interested in practical education. As early as 1793, a group of citizens wrote a letter to the Prince asking him to enable their children to receive a vocational education. Three boys were invited to Vienna for vocational training, followed by two more the next year (though then ‘only reluctantly’ (Negele, p. 1)). However, the ‘first systematic efforts to provide for vocational training opportunities’ were made much later, in the middle of the nineteenth century (ibid.). The school law from 1929 finally prepared the legal basis for public vocational courses for apprentices. However, plans to establish an independent vocational school were abolished, and instead co-operation with the neighbouring Swiss canton of St. Gallen was sought. In general terms, the philosophy and structure of pedagogy and schooling in Liechtenstein are bound up with the educational history of the central European area as a whole, and with the Germanspeaking countries in particular. Thus, issues such as educational philosophy and its role in society, parents’ values, and the socio-cultural position of learners and teachers are basically very similar in Liechtenstein to its neighbouring regions.

The fourteenth century is held to mark the beginning of the development of formal education in Lithuania. A surviving document from 1397 attests to the existence of a school at the Vilnius Cathedral. Other schools mentioned during this period were the (New) School in 1409, the (Old) Trakai School in 1472, and the school at Kaunas in 1473. In 1469 another school was set up at the Cathedral in Varniai. For almost 150 years, the institutional network was limited to the lower level of the system; in addition to cathedral schools, the network of parish schools was spreading very slowly (www.smm.lt).

There is no fundamental difference in the history of education in Luxembourg compared to that of neighbouring countries and border regions. Formal schooling began in the Middle Ages with the development of schools attached to the Benedictine monasteries in Echternach (698) and Luxembourg (Altmunster, 1083).