Students protest as Greece set to vet private universities

(ANSA-AFP) - ATHENS, MAR 8 - Thousands of students protested in Athens Friday hours before parliament was set to approve a disputed law on private universities which they say will create a two-tier favouring the rich. The new law will make degrees from approved private institutions equivalent to the ones from public universities while foreign universities will be allowed to open branches in Greece using a nonprofit status despite charging tuition fees. Students say the law will favour rich students by allowing them to get into private universities with lower grades while earning a degree that is on a par with one from a public university. Some 13,000 people according to police marched to parliament in Athens' central Syntagma Square on Friday, chanting slogans and brandishing banners against the reform. "No to education for the few and chosen, free education for all," many chanted. (ANSA-AFP).